A month after contentious debate with campus religious leaders, Campus Crusade for Christ has decided not to distribute free copies of the book "Mere Christianity" to all members of the freshman class through Hinman mail.
The books were originally designed by the campus religious group as Christmas gifts, but the mailing was put on hold in early December by Dean of the Tucker Foundation Scott Brown because of complaints by campus religious leaders and six Jewish students. Brown ultimately left the decision to distribute the books up to CCC.
That suspension of activity led to a meeting of the religious leaders Dec. 3 which CCC Director Chris West called "tense" and attracted the attention of area media outlets.
Brown was unavailable for comment last night.
Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish leaders voiced their concern at the meeting about the book mailing, calling it religious solicitation, which is prohibited by a voluntary set of guidelines agreed to by religious groups on campus, including the CCC.
Much of the debate focused on the meaning of solicitation and whether the CCC's book distribution fell within that category.
West said he does not consider the books to be a form of solicitation, but rather an information resource on the subject of Jesus and author C.S. Lewis.
The guidelines specify that "all persons are worthy of hearing the message of our particular beliefs" and affirms the rights of every person to "survey other belief options."
"There was no follow-up at all," West said. "We were taking pains to make sure there were no strings attached. We didn't ask for feedback."
While no requests for donations or meeting attendance accompanied the book, there was an enclosed letter which was personally addressed and explained what the CCC perceives to be the importance of the novel and the author and urges students to read the book in the third and final paragraph. The letters were personally signed by CCC members.
In a BlitzMail message to campus religious organizations, Brown said he originally suspended the books' distribution because of complaints received following last year's distribution. Last year was the first year the CCC distributed the books.
Brown said while the guidelines are vague with regard to HBs, he considered the action to cross the line of solicitation.
Brown wrote in the message he suggested the CCC not send the packet to students who indicated a non-Christian preference on their religious preference cards.
West said he offered to pull Jewish students from the mailing, but said that offer was rejected by Rabbi for Dartmouth Hillel Edward Boraz who considered it a breach of confidentiality to release the names of Jewish students.
West said he felt selecting which students would receive the book and which would not might be considered a form of religious discrimination which he said was an issue the group tried to avoid.
"Just because a student checked in his senior year of high school that his religious preference is Jewish doesn't mean he doesn't want to be contacted with a book like that."
Boraz said he thinks the issue was inherently heated.
"Students have a right to free information, but when it deals with information of religious nature, there's going to be tension," Boraz said. "When you're dealing with religious sensitivity it's a very complex problem, especially when you have a very diverse community. How you deal with that -- it's not always easy."
Another suggestion was for the CCC to mail the books through the U.S. Postal Service which Brown said would eliminate any possible appearance of a College endorsement since they would not be sent solely through Hinman mail.
West said the CCC has decided not to mail the books to anyone this year because of time constraints and a desire not to offend anyone, even though he said he felt the group had the right to do so.
He said he is not sure if the group will distribute the group in another fashion but said one possible method would be to allow students to pick them up at tables set up in dining halls -- a system suggested by other religious leaders and employed by the CCC last term when it gave away free bibles.
West said he is confident he and the other campus ministers will be able to work together in the future despite actions he called "out of bounds."
"If this were a football game I think some of my colleagues would have been flagged for personal fouls," West said.
