A Book Review of a Book I Haven’t Read (and Don’t Intend to)

©2021 Kim Bond

A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips. That familiar phrase echoes in the minds of dieters everywhere. It is meant to remind the tempted that eating junk food now will result in excess weight later. Like some other Christians, I treat many forms of media and entertainment as junk food. Since I am trying to draw near to the Lord, I try to avoid anything that promotes non-Christian values or includes excessive profanity. It’s been a successful discipline that I believe honors the Lord. 

As a parent of two teens, I have taught my children the same basis for determining what media they should consume. I haven’t forbidden social media, but I have taught them to steer clear of videos and other forms of media that promote non-Christian values or excessive profanity. For the most part, they have chosen to make their own commitments to a steady diet of decent media consumption in favor of a closer relationship to the Lord. That may come as a surprise considering the fact they attend public school and many of their friends use profanity. 

Then one day, I sat my procrastinating son down to help him stay focused on reading a few chapters of his required reading book for English class. It was a shortish book in a primary color with an upside-down dog on it called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It looked innocent enough, but I noticed some particularly harsh obscenities as I flipped through the pages. Upon closer inspection, it was apparent the young protagonist was making a strong case for atheism. Had my son’s tenth-grade teacher actually assigned this book to my child? It didn’t seem right. 

I did a little internet research on the book and its author. Author Mark Haddon had publicly identified himself as an atheist. That confirmed what I had suspected. It was not the character who was promoting his atheistic viewpoint, but it was the author himself arguing for atheism through the protagonist. I also found I wasn’t alone. Other parents felt the book’s contents made it inappropriate for public school required reading lists or school libraries due to excessive profanity and the promotion of atheism.

In my mind, it must have been an oversight. In public schools, no one is permitted to promote a one-sided view of religion or lack thereof. That has been their reason for banning teachers and students from discussing God or mentioning Christianity all of the years my children have been in school. The simplest solution seemed for me to request that some class time discussion be devoted to balancing atheism with other points of view. My request was denied. When I was referred to school administration, I pointed out that I was not in favor of banning books, but I felt The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was inappropriate for a required reading list due to its one-sided promotion of atheism and excessive use of profanity. I was made no promises except that they would review the title again before using it again in the future. 

When I appealed to other parents, they told me our children have heard these cuss words before so further exposure to them did not matter even when I insisted that when coming from the public school, it almost seems to a child like an endorsement. Very few took issue with the promotion of atheism because they felt children should be exposed to lots of ideas. Yet, the book did not present alternative viewpoints, and the class is not permitted to discuss any other ideas besides the character’s atheism. They recommended that I request a different book. This came too late considering the book was already mostly read by my child, and I was not warned beforehand. How was I to know a little red book with a dog on the cover would be so filled with misleading and harmful information? 

When it is all said and done, I trust my child’s faith and dedication to living his life for God will overcome the ideas in this book. It is for other children I am concerned—children who were like me, children who are just lost and looking for answers. For many years, I trusted the theories and ideas of public schools and my university. I believed in evolution and rejected the idea of any God. It wasn’t until I had a supernatural experience that I changed from an atheist to a Christian. One night, I was all alone and heard a booming voice tell me, “God is real, and the Bible is truth.” Then I believed and have done all I can to help others hold onto their faith by mentoring children and teaching them the Bible. 

Overall, I give The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (a book I haven’t read and don’t intend to) one star. The one star is for reminding me to carefully review every public school material my child is expected to read or watch. It is also for prompting me to recall that children of God are rare and precious gems set apart as holy, and our behavior is peculiar to the rest of the world. It is for suggesting that we must also use our God-given rights to share the gospel whenever possible because the enemy does not rest. We may find ourselves in difficult circumstances “for such a time as this” (see Esther 4:14).  ▪