GOP rep suggests replacing libraries with ‘church-owned’ alternatives
Consider this missive Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana published on Twitter:
“Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm. The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.”
Right off the bat, it’s worth emphasizing that despite the growing radicalism of Republican politics, it’s not common for members of Congress to adopt an anti-library agenda. For that matter, the idea that libraries pose some kind of ideological threat to the public is both outlandish and unusual.
The Louisiana congressman not only opposes existing public libraries, he apparently intends to “get funding” for faith-based libraries owned by churches, which will presumably stock shelves with books Higgins finds more ideologically satisfying.
None of this makes sense. Americans’ public libraries have not become “grooming centers,” and Congress funding “church-owned” alternatives is obviously at odds with the First Amendment.
But the fact that Higgins felt comfortable espousing such an idea publicly says a great deal about where some on the right find themselves when it comes to libraries, free speech, and church-state separation.
As for Democratic reactions, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, noting his GOP colleague’s tweet, added soon after, “What are MAGA Republicans focused on? Destroying our public libraries and replacing them with church libraries. Imagine how boring: No Lord of the Rings; no dinosaur stories; no books about Charles Darwin.”
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show...-rcna76498
Consider this missive Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana published on Twitter:
“Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm. The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.”
Right off the bat, it’s worth emphasizing that despite the growing radicalism of Republican politics, it’s not common for members of Congress to adopt an anti-library agenda. For that matter, the idea that libraries pose some kind of ideological threat to the public is both outlandish and unusual.
The Louisiana congressman not only opposes existing public libraries, he apparently intends to “get funding” for faith-based libraries owned by churches, which will presumably stock shelves with books Higgins finds more ideologically satisfying.
None of this makes sense. Americans’ public libraries have not become “grooming centers,” and Congress funding “church-owned” alternatives is obviously at odds with the First Amendment.
But the fact that Higgins felt comfortable espousing such an idea publicly says a great deal about where some on the right find themselves when it comes to libraries, free speech, and church-state separation.
As for Democratic reactions, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, noting his GOP colleague’s tweet, added soon after, “What are MAGA Republicans focused on? Destroying our public libraries and replacing them with church libraries. Imagine how boring: No Lord of the Rings; no dinosaur stories; no books about Charles Darwin.”
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show...-rcna76498
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
