Stacking Library Shelves: How Washington is pushing Islamic propaganda into local communities. Where's the ACLU when we need it?
Marvin Olasky - World Magazine
Libraries in America, like schools, have a long tradition of local control. In 2009 Minnesota librarian Barbara Fisher told Library Journal readers how she chose books: “I know my community, and I know what their interests are.” Wisconsin librarian Abigail Goben wrote about choosing books based on reviews, patron requests, and librarian blogs: “We’re a chatty bunch and love recommending things to each other.”
The National Endowment for the Humanities has a different process. Earlier this year NEH, as part of a “Muslim Journeys” project, shipped to 953 local libraries and humanities groups 25 books chosen by five “national project scholars” known for their positive appraisals of Islam. We’ll go book-by-book through some of the choices, but four critics of Islam who reviewed for WORLD the 25-book collection all said it was one-sided.
Alvin Schmidt, author of The Great Divide, said the selection “conveys the message that Islam is a peaceful religion,” which is “the biggest, unmitigated lie in circulation today.” Andrew Bostom, author of Sharia versus Freedom, said the books “whitewash” Islam and “amount to ‘dawa’—Islamic proselytization.” Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer said, “This is an egregiously propagandistic selection of books, designed not to give readers a balanced view of jihad, but solely a positive one.”
Read the full article at worldmag.com
This follow-up article shows this initiative, which involves our government actively promoting Islam by using the National Endowment for the Humanities, is partnering with other organizations to get the (Islamic) word out:
Muslim Journeys: Let's talk about it... again - American Library Association (ALA) offers grant funding to expand penetration of NEH 'Muslim Journeys' propaganda initiative.
World magazine, however, has run a series of articles discussing the NEH push, and offering titles on Islam which portray a more accurate picture. I own or am familiar with many of the books referenced in the following three articles, and encourage you to expand your library based on these trustworthy recommendations:
Good Reading on Islam - Some suggested titles to counter the NEH propaganda list, recommended by Dr Daniel Pipes.
More Good Reading on Islam - This list comes from Professor Alvin Schmidt, author of The Great Divide: The Failure of Islam and the Triumph of the West (Regina Orthodox Press), and The American Muhammad: Joseph Smith, Founder of Mormonism (Concordia Press).
More Books to Read on Islam - Marvin Olasky, World magazine correspondent and author of this entire series on books about Islam, and himself a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Texas, gives his own suggested reading list, with comments. Again, many of these are quite familiar to me, and in my personal library.