The feast day of Saint Joseph was a perfect day to rally in defense of the innocence of children at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas. One of the titles of Saint Joseph is “Protector of the Holy Family.”
How appropriate then was the protest of friends and supporters of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign. The group gathered in front of the library to support library board members who denied access of pornographic materials to minors.
Some of the signs read, “Honk, if you want to protect the innocence of children at the Topeka Shawnee County Library,” “Cigarettes are kept behind the counter, why shouldn’t smut be?” and, “Pornography is not a family value.”
At the last board meeting, a majority of board members courageously voted that four such books be restricted, so that minors would not have easy access to them. These volumes contain explicit pictures as well as immoral content.
To any decent-minded person, this would seem to be entirely reasonable. However, those who in favor of such materials in the hand of minors called it a “freedom of speech issue.” They seem to have no problem with the corruption of little children who might stumble across one of these shocking works.
While the protesters would welcome the removal of these books, it must be noted that library board’s decision simply limited access to them. How can anyone be opposed to such a measure? Tragically, but not surprisingly, there are those who want this access.
The rally was held to encourage and to support the library board’s decision and ask them to stand firm at their board meeting that took place at the same time.
Of course, the usual response of the left occurred when the good exercise their free speech rights. The police were called. Library staff came out to take many photos. However, the good held firm and took their rally to the very end.
Hundreds honked their horns in support of the rally. At a certain point, a woman walked up and gave one of the participants a note of support. In her note, she wrote how her child was damaged by the pornography that was accessed at the library. She also wrote, “I absolutely agree with your position on this issue. Thank you!”
A highlight of the rally was when a big Topeka Fire Department truck drove by repeatedly honking his horn, which was heard for blocks.
One of the rally participants heard a reporter talking off the record with a library representative about the issue. The library representative commented on how this was the only library in America that is trying to impose something like this. Thank God for that! Perhaps this will start a trend of the public more closely examining what kind of “materials” are within easy access to their children at their local libraries supported by their tax dollars.
At the close of the rally the Litany of St. Joseph was prayed. So far, the board has not backed down. You can be sure that TFP supporters and friends in Topeka will be keeping a watchful eye on what transpires in the future.