UNITED STATES: The Bible has been banned from elementary and middle schools in a school district in the US state of Utah for having “vulgarity and violence.”
The move in Utah was taken in response to a parent’s complaint that the King James Bible contains inappropriate content for children.
In 2022, the Republican-controlled government of Utah passed a law prohibiting “pornographic or indecent” textbooks in schools. So far, the majority of the books that have been banned pertain to topics like sexual orientation and identity.
The banning of the holy book of the Bible comes amid a bigger effort by US conservatives to ban teachings on controversial subjects like racial identity and LGBT rights. Bans on specific books deemed offensive are also in place in South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Missouri.
A few liberal states have also prohibited the use of some books in libraries and schools, citing perceived offensive racial content.
The Davis School District, which is located north of Salt Lake City, made the decision in Utah this week following a complaint submitted in December 2022. The seven or eight copies of the Bible that were on the shelf have already been taken down, according to officials, who noted that the book was never included in students’ curriculum.
The committee didn’t go into detail about their justification or whether paragraphs included “vulgarity or violence”.
“The King James Bible has no serious values for minors because it’s pornographic by our new definition,” complained a parent in reference to the 2022 book-ban law, as per media reports.
The Utah state legislator who drafted the 2022 bill initially derided the desire to remove the Bible as “mockery,” but this week, he reversed direction after describing it as a “challenging read” for younger children.
“Traditionally, in America, the Bible is best taught, and best understood, in the home, and around the hearth, as a family,” Ken Ivory posted on Facebook.
As per the district’s decision, the Bible has “vulgarity or violence not suitable for younger students,” however, it does not violate the 2022 rule. The local high schools will continue to use the book.
The father of an elementary school student in the Davis School District spoke to the media to express his opposition to the removal of the Bible.
“I can’t think of anything in the Bible that you would have to take out of it. It’s not like there are pictures in it,” he added.
The district is not the first in the US to take the Bible off its shelves. Following protests from citizens opposed to conservative initiatives to restrict some books, a Texas school district removed the Bible from library shelves last year.
Last month, students in Kansas asked for the Bible to be taken out of their school library.
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