this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025

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499

Theft or civil disobedience? 16 volumes go missing after Shelbyville church urges members to check out, never return library books about LGBTQ+ people (kentuckylantern.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

180 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A local church is urging its members to permanently remove books from the Shelby County Public Library by checking them out and never returning them. The books portray gay characters and historical figures or explore LGBTQ+ themes.

Pamela Wilson Federspiel, who has been director of the library in downtown Shelbyville for 34 years, says the action is tantamount to “stealing.”

But three leaders of the Reformation Church of Shelbyville defend what they call an “act of civil disobedience.”

(page 2) 50 comments

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[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago

[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

If you ever come across one of those Gideon bibles in a hotel or similar, do similar.

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Steal the Book of Mormons from the Marriott hotels too lol

[–] joyjoy@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Replace it with a Quoran. It's basically the same thing.

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[–] Burninator05@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Can't it be both? No one ever said that civil disobedience is without consequences. The consequences here are that the people who stole the books have to pay for a new one and aren't able to check out any more books. All they managed to do is take it out of the library's collection for a little bit and increase the book's sales by one.

[–] TheMinister@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s not civil disobedience if the root of the action is hate. It’s just expressions of hate and repression

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[–] Saleh@feddit.org 7 points 1 week ago

Civil disobedience and "petty crime" aren't mutually exclusive. It is integral to civil disobedience that laws are broken. Also there is probably a difficulty and lots of legal debate about when violating a civil contract, borrowing an item for a specified time, becomes theft of the item by not returning it.

I think non of these should be the question here though. It is simply a dick move.

[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I mean, the consequence is generally not being allowed to checkout more books.

It’s not even considered petty larceny.

It would be hilarious if you were able to sum everything up and roll it into a RICO or something. I just don’t think it would hold up.

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[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

Uncivil disobedience

[–] forrgott@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Nah, don't give em an inch. Theft of property is, by it's very nature, a criminal act. Absolutely does not qualify as civil disobedience in any way. Worse it perverts the meaning of that term.

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[–] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago

Shelbyville? Seriously?

[–] Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Charge them for the full replacement value of the book, and then replace the book with 3 copies.

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[–] noredcandy@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

This tracks as shelbyville always advocated for cousin marriage, leading to the eventual rift with Jebediah Springfield.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 weeks ago

If I had fuck you money, I would just put a dump-truck load of LGBTQ+ themed books in front of their church entrances.

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