Bible banned in schools ‘due to vulgarity or violence’

SALT LAKE CITY (AP):

The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent, frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools, convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children.

And the Book of Mormon could be next.

The 72,000-student Davis School District, north of Salt Lake City, removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools, while keeping it in high schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to a parental complaint. The committee did not elaborate on its reasoning or which passages of the Bible it found overly violent or vulgar.

The decision comes as conservative parent activists, including state-based chapters of the group Parents United, descend on school boards and statehouses throughout the United States, sowing alarm about how sex and violence are talked about in schools.

It's unknown, however, who made the request for the Bible to be banned from Davis schools, or if they are affiliated with any larger group, because of the district's privacy policy.

A copy of the complaint obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, through a public records request, shows that the parent noted the Bible contains instances of incest, prostitution and rape. The complaint derided a "bad faith process" and said the district was "ceding our children's education, First Amendment Rights, and library access" to Parents United.

"Utah Parents United left off one of the most sex-ridden books around: The Bible," the parent's complaint, dated December 11, 2022, said. It later went on to add, "You'll no doubt find that the Bible (under state law) has 'no serious values for minors' because it's pornographic by our new definition."

The review committee determined that the Bible didn't qualify under Utah's definition of what's pornographic or indecent, which is why it remains in high schools, district spokesperson Chris Williams

Last Friday, a complaint was submitted about the signature scripture of the predominant faith in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. Williams confirmed that someone filed a review request for the Book of Mormon, but would not say what reasons were listed. He also would not say whether it was from the same person who complained about the Bible, citing a school board privacy policy.