Utah school district removes THE BIBLE from some libraries

The King James Version of The Bible has been removed from a number of schools in a Utah school district after a committee found it contained ‘vulgarity and violence.’

The Davis School District review committee decided to pull The Bible from all schools other than those at a high school level after a parent filed a challenge last year, citing passages that describe sex and violence.

It is understood that the challenge was first made on December 11 by a parent who wrote in their complaint they were frustrated with books being deemed ‘inappropriate’ by conservative groups and removed from schools in recent months.

The parent requested that The Bible itself be reviewed by the board, saying it was time to remove ‘one of the most sex-ridden books around’ from schools.

Davis School District spokesperson Christopher Williams said the decision to remove The bible will take immediate effect, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Listing topics found in the religious text the parent said were concerning, they wrote: ‘Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,’ according to the Tribune.

‘You’ll no doubt find that The Bible, under Utah Code Ann.§76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition,’ they said.

‘Get this PORN out of our schools! If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk,’ the parent wrote. 

Books in several states have been banned from schools, with a particular focus on any written about the LGBTQ community and those that deal with the issue of race.

In Utah, bill H.B. 374 instructs educational agencies to keep ‘sensitive material’ that is ‘harmful to minors’ or ‘pornographic or indecent’ out of school libraries.

Under the Utah Code referenced in the parent’s request, any book containing descriptions of explicit sexual arousal, stimulation, masturbation, intercourse, sodomy or fondling can be removed upon a parent’s request.

Whoever requested that the holy text be removed would have been required to present as evidence 49 pages which could be deemed as inappropriate.

The book in question must include indecent public displays as defined by the law, which includes a description of illicit sex or sexual immorality.

According to state attorneys, if there is a scene in a book involving any such acts, then it should immediately be removed from schools, as material doesn’t have to be ‘taken as a whole’ or be left on shelves during the review process.

Rep. Ken Ivory said at the time of the bill’s passage: ‘When many groups characterize this as banning books, that really is an attempt to simply, you know, hyperbolize what’s going on, we’re simply, clarifying age-appropriate limits.’

Books removed from libraries under the code so far include ‘The Bluest Eye’, a critically acclaimed novel by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and ‘Gender Queer,’ a graphic novel about the author’s journey of self-identity.

But now, The Bible can be considered among them. With the review board’s decision, reports from Utah say it will be banned in around seven or eight elementary or middle schools with immediate effect, with copies required to be removed.

In their complaint about the Holy Book, the parent attached an eight-page list of passages from The Bible they found to be offensive or worth reviewing.

While Williams said this week the committee that reviewed The Bible had actually determined The Bible ‘does not contain sensitive material as defined by Utah Code,’ the board decided to pull it from the schools due to age appropriateness.

He had previously said that the challenge by the parent would be taken seriously like any other complaint made to the review board.

‘It is a process. Anyone who requests a book to be reviewed has to have standing,’ he said at the time. ‘We don’t jump to conclusions, we go through the entire process. We don’t blow off one request because we think it’s silly.

‘This has been very time-consuming. We have 15 committees that have been established for this purpose.’

Utah Rep. Ivory, who sponsored the bill, blasted the challenge of The Bible back in March, saying: ‘It is a backhanded slap to parents that are simply trying to keep a healthy learning environment for all students in the schools.

‘I have every confidence that no school district is going to consider The Bible as violating 76-10-1227.’

The committee’s decision has already been appealed by another parent who wants to keep The Bible in all schools, Williams said, according to The Tribune. 

To handle the appeal, a committee made up of three members of the Davis School District’s Board of Education will review the original complaint and the appeal, and make a recommendation that the full board will be able to vote on.

The final decision will be made in an upcoming meeting, The Tribune reported.

Should the committee decide The Bible is appropriate, then it will be returned to all schools in the district.

The parent’s challenge to the school board was first reported on in March.

It was clear from the parent’s challenge that it was a backlash against other book bans and removals under the Utah Code.

The Tribune quoted the parent as saying in their challenge: ‘I thank the Utah Legislature and Utah Parents United for making this bad faith process so much easier and way more efficient. 

‘Now we can all ban books and you don’t even need to read them or be accurate about it. Heck, you don’t even need to see the book!’

They attacked Utah Parents United, a conservative group that has led efforts to challenge ‘inappropriate’ books, calling it a ‘white supremacist hate group’ that is trampling on education and the freedom to access literature. 

Responding to a request for comment by The Tribune in March, Utah Parents United told the publication: ‘We believe in following the law. That’s all we’re asking schools to do.’