http://www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Announcements/2007-NYTimes.asp
Executive Director Clarifies Mention of AAR in the New York Times
September 12, 2007
Dear AAR members and other interested persons:
I write to you today to clarify something regarding the AAR that appeared in the New York Times on Monday, September 10, 2007. The article, written by Laurie Goodstein and entitled “Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries,” mentions the AAR in a way that might be misunderstood. Our Executive Office has received several questions about this from concerned members, and we felt it was important to contact all of our volunteer leaders with a clarification.
Ms Goodstein’s article concerns a plan by federal prison officials to implement something called the Standardized Chapel Library Project, the aim of which, according to the Justice Department, is to prevent federal prison inmates from having access to materials that might “discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize.” The result of the policy, according to two inmates who are filing a lawsuit, is that inmates’ rights to the free exercise of religion have been violated. The Bureau of Prisons apparently enlisted a group of experts to help it formulate the list of approved reading materials. Just here is where some confusion might arise about the AAR. One paragraph of Ms Goodstein’s article reads as follows:
The identities of the bureau’s experts have not been made public, Ms. Billingsley said, but they include chaplains and scholars in seminaries and at the American Academy of Religion. Academy staff members said their organization had met with prison chaplains in the past but was not consulted on this effort, though it is possible that scholars who are academy members were involved.
Some questions and answers:
- Was the AAR Executive Office or any AAR Executive Staff member involved in the formulation of the Bureau’s list of approved reading material? No.
- Were members of the American Academy of Religion involved in this process? Not to our knowledge.
- Does the AAR provide support for prison chaplains? Yes. Since 2004, the AAR has facilitated meetings between AAR members and correctional religious directors from around the United States. The purpose of the meetings is to provide an opportunity for prison chaplains and corrections officials to meet with scholars who have academic expertise specific to some of the religious practices they may be less familiar with. The format of the meetings is informal, with the majority of the time reserved for the directors to ask questions about the specific situations they encounter. The meetings take place at the AAR’s Annual Meeting and are provided free of charge. AAR members volunteer their time to participate in these sessions. Issues range from inmates’ religious holiday needs and special diet requests to specific questions concerning religious practices in a wide variety of religions, including Native American traditions, Islam, Neo-Paganism and Wicca, and Caribbean religions.
I hope this clarifies the AAR’s lack of involvement in this matter. While I can speak only for myself, I am sure that many AAR members find the Standardized Chapel Library Project highly problematic. As a member of our Board noted in an email to me this week, our interests are in supporting religious freedom, not restricting it.
Sincerely yours
Jack Fitzmier, Executive Director