Christian Nationalists are ramping up their attacks on America’s public libraries. In Shelbyville, Ky., a tactic we’ve seen before has surfaced: Members of a conservative church checking books with LGBTQ+ themes out of the library and refusing to return them.
Leaders of the Reformation Church of Shelbyville say what they’re doing is civil disobedience. In fact, the technical term for it is “stealing.”
So far, a church member has checked out 16 books worth $410.85, reported the Kentucky Lantern. The library has asked that the books be returned to no avail.
Church leaders are brazenly boasting about what they’re doing.
‘Check them out and never return them’
“Yes – we have urged Christians, both locally and across the country, to search their libraries for books that promote sodomy, gender confusion and rebellion against God – and if found, to check them out and never return them as an act of civil disobedience,” three pastors affiliated with the church told the Lantern in an email.
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The church’s attack on the right to read, learn and have experiences doesn’t stop there. They’ve also assailed drag queen events at a local tavern (that has since closed) and tried to shut down a Halloween-themed event sponsored by the local chamber of commerce, where attendees dress as witches to raise money for local charitable causes.
A textbook case of Christian Nationalism
What’s happening in Shelbyville is Christian Nationalism in a nutshell: If a book or an activity offends their narrow and extreme beliefs, it’s not enough for Christian Nationalists to not read the book or take part in the activity – they try to stop everyone else as well. Essentially, their beliefs become the yardstick by which all our rights and freedoms are measured.
The word for that is “theocracy” – and it ought to be alien on U.S. shores. After all, our founders specifically rejected it as a mode of governance.
In Shelbyville, the books have not been replaced, and library officials say they’re treating the matter like any other case of overdue material. But they may need to take a more aggressive stand before their collection is decimated by religious extremists who believe everyone should be forced to live under their beliefs.
This article was originally published at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and is reprinted here with permission.
