The largest school district in Texas is getting pushback from local parents and community activists for allegedly having books in their libraries that contain sexually explicit and profane content.
Several attendees of a March 19 meeting of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) demanded removal of books such as A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah Maas.
Bonnie Wallace, a legislative liaison for Recover America, attempted to read aloud an explicit excerpt from the book—which is available in some HISD high schools—before she was interrupted by several board members.
Before attempting to read the excerpt, Wallace cautioned those attending, “If there are children in the audience, they need to leave.” As she began reading, she was repeatedly warned that doing so would violate decorum and could lead to her expulsion from the meeting.
Wallace angrily replied, “If you don’t like it, remove it … so the children don’t have access to it!”
She was then promptly escorted from the meeting by police.
Rick Scarborough, former pastor of Houston-area First Baptist Church of Pearland, Texas, and leader of Recover America, went viral for his comments to the board, in which he said that after more than 50 years in full-time ministry, he had “never [seen] a Biblical pastor who supports children having access to books that are so explicit they are banned in our prisons here in Texas.”
Scarborough read aloud Jesus’ warning in the Gospels about causing “little ones” to stumble, suggesting to the board that continuing their book policy would result in their eternal judgment.
“Jesus warned that if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to have a millstone hung around their neck and be cast into the sea,” he said, paraphrasing Matthew 18:6.
“That millstone awaits those of you who use your delegated authority to ignore federal and state law by keeping these materials in our libraries. If you continue to refuse their removal from HISD, I will dedicate the rest of my life to ensuring you that you’re held accountable, including lawsuits,” he said.
Recover America is dedicated to promoting what it calls a “biblical worldview” in education and public policy. Scarborough is a longtime pro-family advocate, having founded Vision America in 1994. His efforts have included challenging what he sees as leftist influences in schools and government.
A statement released by the advocacy group United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) affirmed Scarborough’s stance against the Texas school board.
“This illustrates the hypocrisy of so many school officials,” said Sheri Few, founder and president of USPIE. “They censor speakers rather than allow them to publicly expose what they’re serving up in school every day. If it’s too graphic for their own tender little ears, why do they subject children to it?”
