The state of Texas is disaffiliating with the American Library Association (ALA) in protest of the national organization’s president, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Republican Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison announced on Aug. 17 the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) will not renew its contracts with the ALA after Harrison called on the TSLAC to sever ties with the ALA over the election of President Emily Drabinski for the 2023-2024 term.

In July, Harrison sent a letter to TSLAC Commissioner Martha Wong urging the state organization to “do the right thing for hardworking Texas parents and taxpayers,” following Drabinski’s election as ALA president.

“I have been made aware that the American Library Association (ALA) has elected Emily Drabinski, a self-proclaimed ‘Marxist lesbian’ and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, as President,” Harrison wrote. “Texas should be leading the fight against Marxist ideology, not subsidizing it.”

Harrison’s description of Drabinski was based on a now-deleted social media post in which Drabinski wrote, “I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity!”

Drabinski also referred to herself as a Marxist in a 2022 interview, in which she said, “I never thought in a million years they’d give a Marxist a chance.” In another interview last July with Red Fault, the blog of the Austin chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), she acknowledged she was a “member of DSA in name and contribution” but “not active in the movement.”

In his letter to the Texas library commission, Harrison also criticized the ALA for repeatedly approving materials for school library shelves that parents deemed as pornographic.

“The ALA’s ‘Office for Intellectual Freedom’ states that libraries can’t remove inappropriate books because ‘children and teens have the right to find the information they choose’ and ‘no one has the right to make rules restricting what other people use, or to make decisions for other families,’” he wrote. “This means the ALA may be undermining Texas statutes designed to protect children.”

Promoted as a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization that has existed since 1876, ALA is the world’s oldest and largest library association. The organization promotes libraries and library education internationally, with over 49,727 members as of 2021.

Texas’ decision to cut ties with the ALA follows similar actions by Montana and Missouri.

And in July, First Liberty Institute called for a federal investigation into the ALA over charges by Christian actor and children’s book author Kirk Cameron that the association advised libraries to find ways to block or sabotage his “See You at the Library” nationwide event on Aug. 5. 

Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?

Patricia Engler, in her in-depth article, “The ‘Gospel’ According to Karl Marx,” revealed the unbiblical and faulty worldview upon which Marxism is based:

Marx believed humanity’s problem lies in oppression between economic groups, but neo-Marxist movements locate the problem in oppression between cultural groups. While the Bible condemns oppressive actions against vulnerable groups, including orphans, widows, and the poor, neo-Marxist movements view oppression not primarily as an action but as an identity. According to such views, someone is an oppressor not because they commit oppressive deeds but because they belong to one or more groups considered oppressive—typically, European Christian males. Oppressed groups must, by this thinking, awaken to their oppressed status and stage a cultural revolution. These ideas lie at the roots of influential teachings we see spreading through society today, including critical theories, gender ideologies, and certain types of climate change activism (“environmental justice”).

In today’s “cancel culture,” Christians who resist affirming the unbiblical aspects of movements promoting such messages face increasing risks in their personal, professional, and academic lives. But because (neo-)Marxist teachings have been gaining such momentum, because their faulty worldview foundations engender faulty solutions, because they counter clear teachings from Scripture, because they attack biblical institutions including the family unit, and because they demand allegiance to human agendas over God’s Word, Christians must be ready to respond in a biblical manner.

Along with building our own foundations, we can invest in the foundations of the next Christian generation by spiritually discipling, intellectually training, and interpersonally mentoring younger believers. The call for investing in young people rings ever louder the more we remember that a core strategy of Marxism-related movements is to target young people, who represent society’s future decision-makers. As Christians, we must be at least as intentional about discipling the next generation as the secularists are.

Ultimately, many of the “social justice” themes championed in today’s culture represent issues being exploited for a neo-Marxist agenda based on a false worldview. This worldview idolizes humans as their own creators, saviors, and authorities for truth. In promoting these ideas, Marx taught a false view of humanity’s nature, the core problem, and redemptive hope. Marx insisted this hope lay in economic revolution—a theme that later neo-Marxists reframed in terms of cultural revolution. In both cases, approaching real problems from a faulty worldview foundation leads to faulty solutions, which can only reap destruction.

In response, Christians must develop, defend, and live out a solid biblical worldview. We can do so by cultivating strong personal foundations, discipling younger people with these foundations, and sharing the gospel with others. In this way, we can offer culture the hope that human philosophy can never deliver…

The state of Texas is disaffiliating with the American Library Association (ALA) in protest of the national organization’s president, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Republican Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison announced on Aug. 17 the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) will not renew its contracts with the ALA after Harrison called on the TSLAC to sever ties with the ALA over the election of President Emily Drabinski for the 2023-2024 term.

In July, Harrison sent a letter to TSLAC Commissioner Martha Wong urging the state organization to “do the right thing for hardworking Texas parents and taxpayers,” following Drabinski’s election as ALA president.

“I have been made aware that the American Library Association (ALA) has elected Emily Drabinski, a self-proclaimed ‘Marxist lesbian’ and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, as President,” Harrison wrote. “Texas should be leading the fight against Marxist ideology, not subsidizing it.”

Harrison’s description of Drabinski was based on a now-deleted social media post in which Drabinski wrote, “I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity!”

Drabinski also referred to herself as a Marxist in a 2022 interview, in which she said, “I never thought in a million years they’d give a Marxist a chance.” In another interview last July with Red Fault, the blog of the Austin chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), she acknowledged she was a “member of DSA in name and contribution” but “not active in the movement.”

In his letter to the Texas library commission, Harrison also criticized the ALA for repeatedly approving materials for school library shelves that parents deemed as pornographic.

“The ALA’s ‘Office for Intellectual Freedom’ states that libraries can’t remove inappropriate books because ‘children and teens have the right to find the information they choose’ and ‘no one has the right to make rules restricting what other people use, or to make decisions for other families,’” he wrote. “This means the ALA may be undermining Texas statutes designed to protect children.”

Promoted as a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization that has existed since 1876, ALA is the world’s oldest and largest library association. The organization promotes libraries and library education internationally, with over 49,727 members as of 2021.

Texas’ decision to cut ties with the ALA follows similar actions by Montana and Missouri.

And in July, First Liberty Institute called for a federal investigation into the ALA over charges by Christian actor and children’s book author Kirk Cameron that the association advised libraries to find ways to block or sabotage his “See You at the Library” nationwide event on Aug. 5. 

Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?

Patricia Engler, in her in-depth article, “The ‘Gospel’ According to Karl Marx,” revealed the unbiblical and faulty worldview upon which Marxism is based:

Marx believed humanity’s problem lies in oppression between economic groups, but neo-Marxist movements locate the problem in oppression between cultural groups. While the Bible condemns oppressive actions against vulnerable groups, including orphans, widows, and the poor, neo-Marxist movements view oppression not primarily as an action but as an identity. According to such views, someone is an oppressor not because they commit oppressive deeds but because they belong to one or more groups considered oppressive—typically, European Christian males. Oppressed groups must, by this thinking, awaken to their oppressed status and stage a cultural revolution. These ideas lie at the roots of influential teachings we see spreading through society today, including critical theories, gender ideologies, and certain types of climate change activism (“environmental justice”).

In today’s “cancel culture,” Christians who resist affirming the unbiblical aspects of movements promoting such messages face increasing risks in their personal, professional, and academic lives. But because (neo-)Marxist teachings have been gaining such momentum, because their faulty worldview foundations engender faulty solutions, because they counter clear teachings from Scripture, because they attack biblical institutions including the family unit, and because they demand allegiance to human agendas over God’s Word, Christians must be ready to respond in a biblical manner.

Along with building our own foundations, we can invest in the foundations of the next Christian generation by spiritually discipling, intellectually training, and interpersonally mentoring younger believers. The call for investing in young people rings ever louder the more we remember that a core strategy of Marxism-related movements is to target young people, who represent society’s future decision-makers. As Christians, we must be at least as intentional about discipling the next generation as the secularists are.

Ultimately, many of the “social justice” themes championed in today’s culture represent issues being exploited for a neo-Marxist agenda based on a false worldview. This worldview idolizes humans as their own creators, saviors, and authorities for truth. In promoting these ideas, Marx taught a false view of humanity’s nature, the core problem, and redemptive hope. Marx insisted this hope lay in economic revolution—a theme that later neo-Marxists reframed in terms of cultural revolution. In both cases, approaching real problems from a faulty worldview foundation leads to faulty solutions, which can only reap destruction.

In response, Christians must develop, defend, and live out a solid biblical worldview. We can do so by cultivating strong personal foundations, discipling younger people with these foundations, and sharing the gospel with others. In this way, we can offer culture the hope that human philosophy can never deliver…