A Houston Independent School District (HISD) board meeting became tense as a pastor and other advocates debated with officials over delays in addressing books they described as inappropriate.
Parents, along with other attendees, insisted that the materials be taken out from the school libraries, saying they contained “explicit content.”
Among the speakers was Texas pastor Rick Scarborough, a former senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pearland. He is the Founder of Vision America and Recover America, which equip pastors to engage cultural and civic issues from a Biblical worldview, as described on the Recover America website.
Scarborough drew attention on social media after the March 19 meeting for remarks he made to the school board. In the viral clip, he stated, “For 56 years I’ve been involved in full-time ministry. Having addressed over 20,000 pastors face-to-face, I can tell you I have never met a biblical pastor who supports children having access to books that are so explicit they are banned in our prisons here in Texas.”
Scarborough then referenced the Word of God during the meeting, specifically Matthew 18:6, issuing a warning spoken by Jesus in the Bible about the consequences of causing children to sin. He said, “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 continued, “That millstone awaits those of you who use your delegated authority to ignore federal and state law by keeping these materials in our libraries.”
Scarborough issued another warning to the board. He said, “If you continue to refuse their removal from HISD, I will dedicate the rest of my life to ensuring that you are held accountable, including lawsuits,” implying that legal action would be initiated if they refused to comply with the removal of books.
Tensions continued during the meeting after Bonnie Wallace, a well-known conservative activist and legislative liaison for Recover America, was ejected by police after attempting to read an inappropriate passage from A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, which was one of the books accessible to students in school libraries.
As she started reading, school officials repeatedly interrupted, warning her about violating meeting rules regarding decorum. They then instructed an officer to remove her from the podium.
Wallace responded by shouting, “If you don’t like it, remove it so that children don’t have access to it.” Immediately after, she walked back to her seat and was told, “You’re being removed.”
After that meeting, Wallace was later interviewed on America’s Voice News, where she discussed briefly about the book she read during the school board meeting. She said, “That one is very prevalent. I have found it even in elementary schools …,” noting that it has been found in some HISD schools.
