The Bible has been taken out of elementary and middle schools in the US state of Utah because it has “vulgarity and violence” in it, according to the school system.
A parent complained that the King James Bible has things that aren’t good for kids to read.
In 2022, the Republican government of Utah passed a rule that says schools can’t have “pornographic or indecent” books.
So far, most of the books that have been banned have been about things like sexual preference and identity.
The Bible is being banned because conservatives in the US are trying to ban lessons about controversial topics like LGBT rights and racial identity. There are also bans on books in Texas, Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina that people find insulting. Some liberal states have also banned books in some schools and libraries because they are thought to have content that is insulting to people of certain races.
The Davis School District north of Salt Lake City made the choice this week after a complaint was filed in December 2022. Officials say that they have already taken down the seven or eight copies of the Bible that they had on their shelves because the Bible was never part of the program.
The group didn’t explain its reasons or say which parts of the book were “vulgar or violent.”
The parent who made the complaint, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, said that the King James Bible “has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.” This is a reference to the law that will ban books in 2022.
This week, after describing the Bible removal request as a “challenging read” for younger children, the Utah state lawmaker who drafted the 2022 law reversed direction from his earlier dismissal of the proposal as “mockery.”
In the past, Ken Ivory stated on Facebook that teaching and understanding the Bible to a family in the house while gathered around the fireplace was the best method in America.
However, the Bible does contain “vulgarity or violence not suitable for younger students,” according to the district’s ruling, even though its content does not break the rule from 2022. In nearby high schools, the book will continue to be used.
According to Bob Johnson, a primary school student’s father in the Davis School District, he is opposed to the Bible being taken down.
I am unable to think of anything in the Bible that you would need to remove. It’s not as though there are pictures in it, he remarked.
Following the adoption of legislation supporting book bans, the district is not the first in the US to remove the Bible from its shelves.
The Bible was removed from library shelves in Texas last year as a result of protests from citizens who disagree with conservatives’ attempts to outlaw some literature. The Bible was asked to be taken out of Kansas students’ school libraries last month, per their request.
