CLBSJ Read-a-Thon 2024: Reading Audaciously!

Published 22 September 2024

This fall, CLBSJ is reading the Bible in solidarity with banned and controversial texts.

Over the past few years, the number of books being banned has been on the rise, and at the same time efforts are underway to require that the Bible be studied in public schools. Too often it is the same groups pushing both agendas. CLBSJ supports studying the Bible, AND we support studying and engaging with all expressions that arise out of our cultural and political-economic contexts. Centralizing one while demonizing the other does not lead to understanding. Rather, we gain understanding by intentionally placing our communities’ texts in conversation with the Bible.

Join in! We call on all those who value critical thinking to join this campaign by intentionally reading a controversial text alongside resonant biblical passages. A “text” does not have to be in the shape of a book — it can be a poem, a podcast, even a work of art. A text is anything that documents and communicates culture and political-economic context. Below are a few examples:

Gale is reading The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (book)
Betsy is reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (book)
Amy is reading Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (graphic memoir)
Dong is “reading” Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn by Ai Wei Wei (visual art)

For each one, we are asking: “How does this work relate to the Bible’s message? How does it help me hear that message in new ways?” Check out our learnings here and on our facebook page.

What are you reading? Why is it controversial? And how does it impact your understanding of what the Bible has to say to the world right now? Share about your reading and get connected at https://forms.gle/fucEoTWnoQ6mMEeV8

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