Parable of the Sower

Post-apocalyptic California is ruled by drug addicts and their reign of terror!
Now that sounds like a true possible future.  This is one of the aspects of Parable of the Sower that I find so compelling; no matter how unlikely some of the aspects of this novel can get, its basis is founded in reality.  I may not want some of the things to become reality, but it could really happen.  Octavia E. Butler even makes the fictitious religion in the novel sound like it could be true--as if a televangelist could start making millions of dollars off of it.  I think that this is why some people in our class would have problems teaching it in school.

When we discussed this as a group in class, many people said that they would not teach it because a large portion of the novel deals with the Earthseed religion.  My counter argument to that point of view is that this is not a real religion; Butler completely made up every aspect of it.  I don't think that there should be any problems teaching it unless the teacher became completely brainwashed and started preaching "the gospel" of Earthseed.

I also think that this aspect of the novel could be a very good teaching tool in general because it doesn't deal with a real religion.  It could be seen as a template of how religions are spread without going into any real doctrine from a religion.  I bring this up because even though religion is supposed to be kept separate from all aspects of the school day, it still remains inseparable.  For example, history classes always bring up the reformation in Europe because it had such a profound effect on the 1400s.  Also, Roman Catholicism is ever present throughout the middle ages because it was the sole ruling force during that time period (The Pope had the power).  So, this book could be used to show just how easy it was to spread the gospel during those time periods.  In Parable of the Sower we can see how Lauren spreads her religion Earthseed.  We see her reading her poems to people and answering their questions, and she soon has a base of followers.
Based on this I believe that Parable of the Sower could actually be a good teaching resource.