BagOfNothing.com

To nobody’s surprise, LifeWay Christian Stores sells Christian books among their many products. As any reader of these books knows, however, the authors can range anywhere from super-fundamentalist to relatively-liberal.

To help their customers out, LifeWay now puts a label on certain books stating “Read With Discernment“:

While we recognize that almost every title requires some measure of discernment, certain titles should clearly be read with extra discernment.

…

We want you to know that the authors of books marked Read with Discernment may have espoused thoughts, ideas, or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology.

Read the full Friendly Atheist article here.  If you weren’t aware, Lifeway is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, as indicated at the bottom of every page on their website.  This was also the same store that would not display the magazine Gospel Today because women pastors were on the cover.  Article

The “Discernment” page lists several authors, and I found it interesting that they referenced a Wikipedia entry on their Donald Miller page.

They have also dedicated a page voicing their concerns about the Emerging Church Movement.

I guess they are worried about their “flock being lead astray,” but I think customers should be able to decide and discern for themselves without a disclaimer.  One may argue that is the reason for the disclaimer, but I think the disclaimer itself is a negative connotation.  It all seems very judgmental, something I don’t think these Christ loving authors deserve. And yes, I’m a fan of most of these listed authors on their disclaimer.

I wouldn’t be surprised in the future to see the author’s denomination next to his or her name, which I guess wouldn’t bother me as much since this would apply to all authors and would give the reader a bit more background on the author.  I know that last point might sound a bit hypercritical, but I think there’s a difference.

I haven’t spent money at one of their stores in years, and don’t plan on spending any money there ever again.

Chalk all this up for another reason why I’m a Recovering Baptist.

Man, I went on a rant.