I’m off to Pigeon Forge today to conduct a retreat for a group from the Columbus, Georgia area. I’ve become good friends with Jerry and Linda Scarborough, the organizers of the annual gathering, and I’m looking forward to being with them and their expanding group of friends.
Before leaving Nashville, I found a fascinating article in today’s Christian Post. It has been disturbing to follow the saga of modern-day Islam in Great Britain. The Muslim influence, which does not and will not assimilate into the British culture, is increasingly strident, demanding, and intimidating to British officials.
The most recent episode involves library books. Librarians have been told to place all religious texts on the top shelves of bookcases, following complaints from Muslims about the positioning of the Koran on the shelves. Islamic leaders complained that the Koran should be placed above “commonplace things.” They demanded that the Koran be placed on the top shelves above all other books.
As a result, libraries have moved all religious texts, including the Bible, to the top shelves, out of reach to many people.
That is the exact opposite of how Christians feel about the Bible. While we know that the Bible a book unto itself, unique and God-Breathed, we believe it should be accessible to all and placed right in the middle of our culture. It isn’t to be marginalized, top-shelved, and banished from everyday life.
One Christian leader in England said, “One of the central planks of the Protestant Reformation was that everybody should have access to the Bible.”
Amen and amen! For the complete article, click here.