Author cries foul after store pulls book

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This article was published 09/04/2021 (1486 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The locally-raised author of a Christian non-fiction book says he is disappointed by the owners of Hull’s Family Bookstores, who stopped selling his book after a reader alleged some passages venture beyond the bounds of Christian orthodoxy.

However, the bookstore owners are standing by their decision, saying the book “guts the Gospel message,” departs from crucial doctrines of faith, and denigrates several biblical writers.

Ray Friesen published Wandering the Wilderness: A Guide for Weary Wanderers and Searching Skeptics in March 2020.

Raised east of Blumenort, Friesen, a retired pastor, resides in Swift Current, Sask., where he works as a mediator.

Wandering the Wilderness is marketed as “a guidebook for individuals who are unsure of their path or are questioning the trails they were taught in the past.”

Drawing on Friesen’s experiences as a cancer survivor, and on the research of Brené Brown, an American professor of social work, the book aims to help Christians revitalize their spiritual life and appreciation for the Bible.

“I feel like part of my calling is to share with people what has nurtured my spirit, and to invite them to consider whether it might do that for them,” Friesen explained in a phone interview.

Wanting to ensure friends, family, and pastors in Manitoba could find his new book, Friesen contacted Hull’s, which operates in Steinbach and Winnipeg, last spring.

Hull’s agreed, having previously carried Friesen’s 2019 book, Jump into the Story: The Art of Creative Preaching. Friesen boxed up 10 copies of his new book and sent them off.

Last month, a prospective reader informed Friesen his book was nowhere to be found at Hull’s. Assuming all copies had sold, he picked up the phone and spoke with Sheila Careless, who owns and operates Hull’s with her husband, Bruce.

Friesen said Careless explained the book had been removed from shelves after a customer complained that the book taught that “all gods are equal.” Careless conceded she hadn’t yet investigated the complaint.

“I was surprised, particularly when they gave the reason,” Friesen said. “I suppose that I fall under the umbrella of ‘progressive Christian’…but I was taken aback.”

Friesen said Hull’s should have checked to see if the complaint was legitimate before removing the book from shelves.

“And then if they felt like they had to pull the book, I wish they would have let me know that that’s what they were doing.”

He said he is still waiting to hear what the store will do with the unsold copies.

Friesen identifies as a “believing skeptic” and said he believes in one God revealed through Jesus of Nazareth.

He said he suspects the complainant was offended by an allegorical passage in the book’s sixth chapter, which is repeated in more detail in an appendix. Friesen said the story is an attempt to make sense of his cancer diagnosis through storytelling by conveying what it’s like to undergo chemotherapy.

“It helps me deal with the reality of struggle and bad stuff in my life by putting it into some kind of story form that creates a way for me to think about it so that I can live,” he writes in the preamble to the story, in which the Grim Reaper and Mother Earth play poker, with Friesen’s life hanging in the balance.

Both are “so passionate” about Friesen’s fate that they “would each, without a second thought, cheat if the opportunity presents itself,” Friesen writes in the book. The dialogue also includes several curse words, censored with asterisks, uttered by the Grim Reaper.

Friesen said Hull’s never asked him about his beliefs, or to affirm a statement of faith, before they agreed to carry his book.

On its website, Hull’s says it offers a “wide and deep” selection of Christian books.

“We cut across denominational lines. We are diverse. We are common ground. People from different backgrounds, churches and theological leanings come together in our stores,” the website reads.

Friesen said the store can carry whatever it wants but should strive for consistency and transparency with authors. He maintained his book isn’t any more controversial than other titles carried by Hull’s, but provided no specific examples.

Friesen said today’s Christian bookstores serve an increasingly diverse church.

“If they’re going to sell only those books that kind of a narrow strip of Christians agree with, it’s going to be pretty tough to make a living.”

Bookstore responds

Reached for comment last week, Hull’s co-owner Bruce Careless hung up the phone. On Monday, Careless contacted The Carillon to say he and Sheila were “going through the book in detail.”

Yesterday, the couple issued a 1,700-word statement cataloging “several serious problems” with Friesen’s writings and claims. The statement did not address their initial decision to stock the book, nor their subsequent decision to remove it without notifying Friesen.

The couple wrote that, “it is completely fair and reasonable not to expect every store to carry every perspective. You would not go into a Jewish store and expect to find Muslim writings.”

They explained customers “can be assured that the basics of Christian faith will not be undermined by anything at Hull’s.”

“While there are many things about his writing that contain nuggets of wisdom, putting the author and his book out as Christian would be rather disingenuous,” they wrote.

They concluded Friesen “teaches much that is directly contrary to Scripture” and has “twisted, edited, and even re-written the Scriptures” in a way that departs from an understanding of the Bible shared by “various denominations.”

“There are many truths about God, about us humans, and about what God wants of us, that are non-debatable if you take the Scriptures seriously,” the couple wrote.

They explained that, “as a solidly Christian operation, we do look to what unites all true Christians as parameters for what we carry.”

Friesen said he understands those who have an adverse reaction to his writings.

“I was brought up in a context where it was very important to define who’s inside and who’s outside,” he said. “That way of thinking doesn’t have a whole lot of room for disagreement.”