Letter submitted to the editor of the Defiance Crescent-News.
Dear Editor,
Recently, Evangelical pastor Greg Locke held a book burning service that led to consigning to flames of a metaphorical Hell the Harry Potter and Twilight books, along with other books deemed Satanic. School boards and public libraries are receiving increasing numbers of requests to remove “offensive” books from their institutions — especially books that present LGBTQ people, premarital sex, atheists, and socialism in a positive light. Most of the people objecting to these books are Evangelical Christians.
I agree with them. Any book that presents an alternate worldview besides Christianity should be removed from the shelves. The same goes for books that teach any other religion except Biblical Christianity. Since all humans are heterosexual and it’s a sin to engage in premarital sex, there’s no need to have books that educate teens about gay, transgender, and non-binary people. The Bible tells us we should shelter our children from the “world.” They mustn’t see or engage with people different from them. Public schools are government indoctrination centers. Children would be better off if they were homeschooled or sent to Christian schools that will teach them the “truth,” including the fact that the earth was created in six literal twenty-four-hour days, 6,024 years ago.
Recently, I was at the Defiance Public Library and I was astounded to find a book on the shelves filled with all sorts of vile behavior: homosexuality, incest, rape, fornication, adultery, murder, and genocide. This book called for the execution of people who were gay, worshiped false deities, or were disobedient to their parents. This book was loaded with bloody violence, including the story of a man who chopped up his daughter and sent her body parts all over the country. Worse yet, this book taught that women are second-class citizens, consigned to lives of dutiful marriage, bearing children, cooking Hamburger Helper, and obeying their husbands’ commands.
This book is available to children, teens, and adults alike. I am calling on the Defiance Library to immediately remove this book from its shelves. Our children must not be exposed to this book. It’s name, you ask? The Bible. Using the standard promoted by Evangelical pastors such as Greg Locke, it’s clear that the Bible, in all its versions, must be immediately removed from library shelves.
Of course, what I have written above is sarcasm. I encourage local school boards and librarians to reject all attempts to ban books.
Bruce Gerencser
Ney, Ohio
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Can’t wait to read the responses from your neighbors.
Why you pokin’ the bear, Bruce? 😀
They haven’t been poked in awhile. 😂😂
I quit reading the Crescent News a long time ago, when I realized they only ran op-eds from conservatives (Christian is a given). At least when I got the Bryan Times, there was a nice balance on the op-ed page. I don’t think Bryan is less conservative but I think, maybe, that the people here pretend they are less rigid.
It looks like an interesting newspaper, so very local. Some parts of their website seem in disrepair, for example, the latest political cartoon is from 2017. Based on other letters to the editor, they don’t actually have an editor! Do they have a daily print edition? I’m really worried about the death of local newspapers in the U.S. Even here in Madison, a city of around 300,000, our local newspaper has less and less local news. And we would never be allowed to submit a letter as long as yours!
I love your humor, Bruce, as always. All of this censorship seems to have been spawned by The NY Times’ 1619 project, and the “CRT” hysteria that has ensued. You nail the hypocrisy.
The Defiance paper is printed three days a week. The Bryan paper is printed five days a week. Both have lost thousands and thousands of subscribers. I would not be surprised if the papers merged or closed. The Fort Wayne and Toledo papers are no longer available for local delivery. It wasn’t that many years ago that I could by the Sunday edition of the Columbus Dispatch.
I used to read two papers — morning and evening — a day, along with subscribing to a weekly paper. Those days are long gone (and I miss them). When we lived near/in Detroit, Columbus, Newark, Zanesville, San Antonio, I received two papers every day.
My sons remember the days when they weren’t allowed to read the paper before Dad. And they sure as hell better have put all the sections in the right order, especially the Sunday paper. Fond memories. 😂😂❤️❤️
There is no need to ban the bible, as you point out. Fundamentalism will die a slow death as older people die and as younger people flee Fundamentalism.
The number of Exvangelicals in the U.S.A seems to be on the rise in your country, if I am reading and interpreting things correctly. These departures from Conservative Evangelicalism are not all going to atheism or agnosticism. Some are becoming progressive Evangelicals. Others are post liberal Christians. Still .others are liberal Christans and some are not religious, but spiritual. Some are joining other religions like Buddhism.
Bruce drops mic, walks away.
Most Christians don’t read their Bibles beyond the parts carefully curated for them by pastors and devotionals. They wouldn’t be missing much from their daily lives if Bibles were banned.
Most Christians don’t read their bibles, for themselves. Very true! I wish that they would study the bible in detail. Maybe, just maybe some of them would see how barbaric some of its passages are.
This letter is beautifully done! I do forsee a problem though: Many of those who will read it, though possessing the skill of reading, have little to no ability in discerning depth of meaning in the pursuit. Also, humor is an unpleasant taste in their mouths, a discomfort. Instead, they seek the comfort of the-sameold, the camplacency of habit, the repetition of cliché. To these dullards, your humor and insight are blunt instruments of torture! Watch out, lest they arrive on your doortep swinging heavy Bibles in your direction…
We’ll…all those “Satanic” Harry Potter books sure have done a shitload more the get kids to love reading than the good ole B-I-B-L-E.
Nicely done, Bruce! Nicely done. 👏
Hey Bruce, fascinating read ! I’m originally from a country where the Bible as known here in the states IS banned. Penalties for being found with a Bible in your place or Christian literature were severe,to say the least. One of my beefs with the U.S. Christians is, they act so obnoxious and irrational that THEY are the ones ultimately who could trigger the Bible getting banned one day ! Because of the way that time is used to justify the worst, egregious behavior from people. I read it from cover- to- cover one time, and it took me months to do . It was one of my projects as a new Christian long ago. Naturally, I was stumped by all the abuse and meaness all around me then. What I thought was a regional exception turned out to be the rule, for the most part. Knowing what I know- now, I abhor most missionaries,they aren’t the heroes I once assumed they were. What a damn shame !