Resident asks for Bible Ban from library

CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
Staff Writer

OCALA — Another book has been targeted for removal from the Marion County Public Library, a tome one critic says is filled with more vulgarity and sexual material than the children's sex-education book that recently survived challenge.

Charles Schrader, a Wiccan and retired Marine, filed the request for reconsideration, claiming the book in question is filled with graphic descriptions of rape, murder, incest, cannibalism and sodomy.

That's how he describes the Bible.

Schrader, who moved to the Dunnellon area two years ago, filed the request to remove the Bible this week in response to the recent criticism of "It's Perfectly Normal," a sex-education book for children by Robie Harris that some have described as pornographic.

Schrader said he doesn't really think he'll get the Bible off the shelves and doesn't believe it should be removed. He's just trying to make a point.

"It's filthy, it has pornography, cannibalism like you wouldn't believe," he said. "Because it's hidden within the covers of something called the Holy Bible, who would dare question it at the risk of their immortal souls?"

He is scheduled on Tuesday to address the Marion County Commission, which controls the library system. During the debate over "It's Perfectly Normal," the commission voted to set itself up as the final arbiter of what books belong in the library, only to back away from that stance after its attorney said that would constitute illegal censorship.

Schrader said he intends to compare "It's Perfectly Normal" and the Bible to "see which is more vulgar." He points to various excerpts from the Old and New Testaments that describe a father impregnating his daughters, a man eating his son, virgin sacrifices and torture.

Schrader's effort to ban the Bible is only half-serious. "I admit there's some facetiousness spread through this," he said.

"I do not have any illusions that they're going to remove this. And personally, as a civil libertarian and a staunch defender of freedom of religion, I don't really want them to," he said.

He is hoping to convince commissioners they have no business regulating the content of library books and to point out the hypocrisy of taking excerpts from a book out of context to conclude the entire book is obscene.

The reaction of county commissioners to Schrader's complaint range from anger to indifference. Steve Henning said Schrader is "mixing apples and oranges," and Randy Harris said the matter is "simply not worthy of comment."

"We're compelled to listen. And apart from that, I think that will be the end of what we'll be doing," Parnell Townley said. "I'll listen to anyone, but the Bible is sacred to a lot of people, especially me. With that, it should be in the center of the library."

After receiving Schrader's request on Wednesday, library director Julie Sieg impaneled a committee of librarians to review the book in question. Their recommendation is due within 30 days. Sieg holds the final authority over what materials stay or go.

Two other books that have had complaints filed against them recently, "One Fat Summer" and "Crying Wind," have already been through this process. Sieg decided to retain both.

Countywide, the library system carries 30 different versions of the Bible encompassing 42 individual books plus 11 audio recordings.

A former Marine who served three combat tours in Vietnam and earned a number of citations, the 63-year-old Schrader has spent the past two decades combating what he sees as the encroachment of religion on government. He was active in Georgia before moving to Spruce Creek Preserve with his wife two years ago.

Last month he disrupted a Citrus County School Board meeting, reciting a Wiccan prayer during the Christian prayer the board holds before every public meeting. He has also objected to a group of Christian athletes using school facilities and fought to allow the creation of a student club based on sexual orientation.

"My focus is on freedom of religion. That's a freedom that's being stomped on right regular," Schrader said. "One day this republican democracy will go away, and we're going to have a theocracy."

Schrader is also a practitioner of Wicca, a nature-based religion sometimes referred to as witchcraft. Wiccans say their religion does not incorporate devil worship or black magic, and a central tenet is that any harm inflicted on others will be returned threefold. Schrader said he is an active member of a Wicca coven in Homosassa.