The small town that’s known as where Superman comes from is tearing itself apart amid a vicious battle over its beloved library.
Metropolis in Illinois has been engaged in civil warfare over claims the library is forcing religion on children as well as censoring what they can read.
Rhonda James, the president of the library board got letters from distraught parents who complained their kids were being ‘indoctrinated’.
‘I did not bring my children to the library for religious indoctrination,’ read one letter, which claimed the local library director had prayed with children.
The director was accused of ‘pushing Christianity’ on kids, as well as removing computers and books about other religions, sexualities and even Halloween.
The Metropolis, Illinois Public Library, control over which has ignited a feud between its board and the local government
The small town of Metropolis, Illinois, identified lovingly as ‘Superman’s Hometown,’ is locked in a battle of Church vs. Library
When asked by the board, the director said she did not censor library material.
But, when they asked her to sign a form promising to stop praying at the library, she refused, which led to her termination.
In the town of fewer than 6,000, which lies on the Ohio river just across from Kentucky, citizens are split on the ongoing battle of church vs. library.
Brian Anderson, a city councilman and local pastor, preached recently to his congregation that Satan had been in that library.
‘The libraries have things that come straight out of Sodom and Gomorrah,’ he said. ‘These children that you see here, the enemy hates them, and the enemy wants to kill them,’ he continued.
Rhonda James, the president of the Metropolis library board, who is fighting to keep Christianity out of the institution
Mayor Don Canada, who is in Anderson’s congregation and fired several library board members after they ousted the Christian library director
The former library director, who would not sign a form pledging to stop praying with children in the library
In 1972, the Illinois State Legislature passed a resolution declaring Metropolis the ‘Hometown of Superman’
Anderson preaches to a sizable congregation, including the town’s mayor. But not all religious leaders are aligned on the issue.
Baptist pastor Glenn Coram recently told local station WPSD-TV that he generally agrees with other conservative church leaders on moral issues, but in this case, he feels differently.
He said Anderson and the library director are pushing to ‘enforce religious agreement on a public institution.’
When asked by NBC’s Antonia Hylton if the library should reflect the ‘views of the majority,’ Coram said he did not think so. ‘The library opens up the world to entirely different ways of thought,’ he said.
Councilman and pastor Brian Anderson, who said Satan had been in the town library and supports the former director’s behavior
Baptist Pastor Glenn Coram, who identifies with conservative ministers generally, but says the will of the Church should not be imposed on public institutions
But the town’s mayor, Don Canada, sided with Anderson and proceeded to remove several members of the library board from their positions.
The Illinois Secretary of State called the plan ‘unacceptable,’ and so it was paused.
Canada, who now has until June to make a final decision about the board members, says he does not think there should be an issue with praying in a public place if ‘it was approved by everybody involved.’
Rhonda James says she will continue to fight for religious freedom in the library because of how much she values the institution.
‘We want to have freedom to practice whatever religion we want, or to not practice religion,’ she said.
