We’ve talked about censorship here before. We’ve noted often that when a government stops a book from being printed or distributed, that’s censorship, but when a parent complains about the appropriateness of a book for her child, that’s not. We hope parents are actually morally and reasonably when they question some of the recommended reading at school. Doesn’t always happen, of course. Recently a teacher was investigated by school and community law enforcement because a parent complained that Ender’s Game is pornographic. Help us.

BTW, you can buy Ender’s Game (with cool cover art) here.

But we usually don’t talk about bookstores that won’t sell perfectly good books because of one or more select words. Caryn Rivadeneira writes about a few of these examples, particularly an argument author Rachel Held Evens had with her publisher. In short, Thomas Nelson wouldn’t let her use the word vagina.

Rivadeneira notes the difficulties. “They are businesses after all, and to be successful, businesses need to sell products their customers will read without getting up in arms. The problem with Vagina-gate and similar forms of “censorship” is that, in an attempt to protect customers, publishers and bookstores are making it a lot harder for writers to tell the stories God has called them to write. And when Christians are barred by other Christians from serving God, it dishonors God. In fact, it’s sin.”

I think she’s right.

BTW, you can pre-order Evans’ book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master, here.