A rant concerning jerks who mess with bookstores to make a point
You ever have something that's bugged you for a while, the sort of thing you end up drafting rants about in your head in case it ever gets brought up? Yeah, that's pretty much the point of this post. I just wanted to get this off my chest, because I'm a dork that way.
"I got kicked out of Barnes and Noble for moving all the Bibles to the Fiction section." I see this every so often on forum signatures and the like, and it really makes me want to smack someone upside the head. Not just because of the obvious potshot at Christianity, but because of my appreciation for bookstores.
Take a good look at the layout of a typical bookstore next time you visit. Notice how all the books are in separate sections? A work of fiction can be placed under Mystery, Literature, Romance, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Chick Lit, etc. But there are just as many different subheadings for nonfiction, too. There are cookbooks, poetry, essays, reference books, how-to guides, foreign languages, travel guides, atlases, biographies, the list goes on.
One section that I hope you'll pay particular attention to is Religion/Spirituality. That's where the Bibles go. It's also where the holy books for other major religions go. You'll also find books on meditation, devotion, guides on how to invite friendly spirits into your home, how to balance your chi, and so on. Even books about Atheism go here. Now, the nature of most religions means that that these books can't all be right. And yet, here they are, innocently sharing the same shelves without managing to spontaneously combust from their proximity to each other.
See, here's the thing. A work of fiction is, by definition, something that is not a true retelling of actual events. That does not mean, however, that a work of nonfiction must therefore be a true retelling of actual events. Compare this to being found "guilty" or "not guilty" in a court of law. "Guilty" means you committed the crime in question (barring some miscarriage of justice), but "not guilty" does not mean "innocent." It means that the court could not find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty. There's a difference.
Any particular biography on any historical figure might portray that person as a hero, while a different biography about that very same person might paint him a villain. Does that mean one of these books is "wrong" and should therefore be moved to Historical Fiction? No. And just because a Bible is classified as Nonfiction does not mean that the bookstore is implying that it contains nothing but the truth any more than it implies the same for any other book on the Religion/Spirituality shelves. It's there because it's a religious text. That's all.
So, to sum it up, those of you who wish to make your anti-Christian viewpoint known to your local bookstore and the world: knock it off. You're not making a daring and controversial statement about your beliefs. You're just being an obnoxious prat who's creating a headache for the poor employee who now has to move all those books back to their original location on top of everything else he or she has to do. That's the reason why you got kicked out of Barnes and Noble. (Or would get kicked out, to those of you who haven't actually done it and are just saying so to look cool and to get a rise out of people.)
"I got kicked out of Barnes and Noble for moving all the Bibles to the Fiction section." I see this every so often on forum signatures and the like, and it really makes me want to smack someone upside the head. Not just because of the obvious potshot at Christianity, but because of my appreciation for bookstores.
Take a good look at the layout of a typical bookstore next time you visit. Notice how all the books are in separate sections? A work of fiction can be placed under Mystery, Literature, Romance, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Chick Lit, etc. But there are just as many different subheadings for nonfiction, too. There are cookbooks, poetry, essays, reference books, how-to guides, foreign languages, travel guides, atlases, biographies, the list goes on.
One section that I hope you'll pay particular attention to is Religion/Spirituality. That's where the Bibles go. It's also where the holy books for other major religions go. You'll also find books on meditation, devotion, guides on how to invite friendly spirits into your home, how to balance your chi, and so on. Even books about Atheism go here. Now, the nature of most religions means that that these books can't all be right. And yet, here they are, innocently sharing the same shelves without managing to spontaneously combust from their proximity to each other.
See, here's the thing. A work of fiction is, by definition, something that is not a true retelling of actual events. That does not mean, however, that a work of nonfiction must therefore be a true retelling of actual events. Compare this to being found "guilty" or "not guilty" in a court of law. "Guilty" means you committed the crime in question (barring some miscarriage of justice), but "not guilty" does not mean "innocent." It means that the court could not find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty. There's a difference.
Any particular biography on any historical figure might portray that person as a hero, while a different biography about that very same person might paint him a villain. Does that mean one of these books is "wrong" and should therefore be moved to Historical Fiction? No. And just because a Bible is classified as Nonfiction does not mean that the bookstore is implying that it contains nothing but the truth any more than it implies the same for any other book on the Religion/Spirituality shelves. It's there because it's a religious text. That's all.
So, to sum it up, those of you who wish to make your anti-Christian viewpoint known to your local bookstore and the world: knock it off. You're not making a daring and controversial statement about your beliefs. You're just being an obnoxious prat who's creating a headache for the poor employee who now has to move all those books back to their original location on top of everything else he or she has to do. That's the reason why you got kicked out of Barnes and Noble. (Or would get kicked out, to those of you who haven't actually done it and are just saying so to look cool and to get a rise out of people.)