Back in October, we posted about Iowa Christian activist Paul Dorr after he burned several LGBTQ books to make a statement against what he saw as a permissive sexual culture.

The problem wasn’t that he was burning books — that form of protest is perfectly fine — but that these weren’t his books. They belonged to the Orange City Public Library. He was trying to make sure no one could read them.

That plan backfired. Not only did local activists raise thousands of dollars to replace those books and buy even more — the Orange City Library allegedly received $3,737 and 952 replacement books — Dorr was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief.

He faced a maximum penalty of a month in jail and a $625 fine.

Yesterday, he was finally found guilty. He won’t spend any time behind bars, but he will owe $125 in “fines and court costs.”

I guess the judge…

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… threw the book at him.

Okay, so it’s a relatively small punishment, but I would argue the symbolism matters more: His destruction of public property, fueled by his Christian bigotry, wasn’t given a free pass. The judge didn’t buy his claim that the misdemeanor charge was a form of Christian persecution.

A judge rejected his argument in July, saying the only message being sent to him was “that he cannot burn books that do not belong to him.”

See? Not persecution. Just a man being held to the same standards as everyone else. (Which, in Dorr’s mind, is a form of persecution, but that’s irrelevant now.)

Naturally, he was spinning this as a victory because he didn’t receive the maximum penalty.

Thank you all who helped make this possible. God was glorified in the courtroom and strategically I believe this was a victory!…

It wasn’t a victory. But if you believe Jesus performed miracles, then you’ll believe damn near anything, won’t you?

(Thanks to Lizmari for the link. Large portions of this article were published earlier)

