Censorship and Social Work Strange Bed-fellows

My friend Obi likes to stir things up. He finds things which he thinks are wrong with the world and then he sticks his oar in and stirs. Occasionally, when he pulls the oar up, he finds something even more surprising and disturbing than he'd thought.

Such was the case when, earlier this year, he sent emails to a number of large organizations which operate in his community and asked them what he calls “uncomfortable questions”. The organizations included governmental, corporate and non-profit including one whose main purpose is social service. Their secondary mission is religious and this is where Obi's email churned up some trouble.

In an email interview with my friend, the regional director for Salvation Army Thrift Stores, disclosed their policy of destroying books which promote religions other than Christianity. Destroying. The suggested reason for this is to prevent people being led astray by reading about Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism or perhaps Sufism. The well-meaning hierarchy of Salvation Army are afraid that others are not able to think for themselves. Or perhaps they're afraid that we are. Either way, they don't want to be responsible for our souls eventual burning in hell. It's nice of them to be concerned I guess but I personally have a few problems with it.

The first is the disrespect done to other people's treasures, donations or not. The second is the possibility that sacred texts are being destroyed (not to say burned). The third (and for me, most important) is the presumption of intellectual authority displayed as a matter of course by an entity which is responsible for a large share of basic services for our most needy.

There is a tendency, I think, for us in Canada, to assume that what we see is the real thing and what we experience is freedom. We want to believe that sexism, racism, fundamentalist and intolerant views have long been banished. We want to think that we are emancipated because we want to be. The problem with the actions of the Salvation Army is the suppression of ideas, a behavior which should have been left behind decades ago.

A fundamental respect for each others' ability to think and choose is the basis for democratic thought. It is the foundation of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and it is the reason for the fairly widespread tolerance of other people's beliefs. I'm not questioning the right of the Salvation Army to choose what they sell but I do have an issue with destroying books on an ideological basis. Public institutions are held to an unbiased platform for their work but non-profits are not. I think we are riding a slippery slope when we entrust a religious organization to do the work of the public and we should be wary of their agendas and the invisible ways they impact our culture.