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 to contain “vulgarity and violence.”
The Davis School District review committee decided to remove the Bible from all but one high school after a parent filed an appeal last year, citing passages describing sex and violence.
It is understood that the challenge was first raised on Dec. 11 by a parent who wrote in their complaint that they were frustrated with books being deemed “inappropriate” by conservative groups and being 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 out there” from schools.
Davis School District spokesman Christopher Williams said the decision to remove the Bible will take effect immediately, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The King James Version of the Bible has been removed from some schools in a Utah school district after a committee found it contained “vulgarity and violence” (file photo)
The Davis School District review committee decided to remove the Bible from all but one high school after a parent filed an appeal last year, citing passages describing sex and violence. Pictured: Superintendent of David School District Dan Linford
They listed topics in the religious text that were of concern to the parent, writing: “Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, female genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape and even infanticide,” according to the Tribune.
“You will no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann.§76-10-1227, ‘has no serious values for minors’ because it is pornographic by our new definition,” they said.
“Get this PORN out of our schools! If the books banned thus far are indicative of much lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk,” the parent wrote.
Books have been banned from schools in several states, with a particular focus on books about the LGBTQ community and books that deal with race.
In Utah, bill HB 374 directs educational institutions to keep “sensitive materials” that are “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 at the request of a parent.
Whoever asked for the sacred text to be removed would have to produce as proof 49 pages that could be considered inappropriate.
The book in question must contain indecent public displays as defined by law, including a description of illicit sex or sexual immorality.
According to prosecutors, a scene in a book containing such acts should be removed from schools immediately, as the material does not have to be “taken in its entirety” or left on shelves during the review process. .
Rep. Ken Ivory said at the time of the bill’s passage, “When a lot of groups characterize this as banning books, that’s really an attempt to simply, you know, hyperbolize what’s going on, we’re just clarifying age-related boundaries.” ‘
Books so far removed from libraries under the code 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 to self-identity.
Books so far removed from libraries under the code include “The Bluest Eye” (pictured), a critically acclaimed novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, and “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel about the author’s journey to self-discovery. identity
While it is not clear exactly which passages the parent was complaining about, there are several mentions of violence and sex in the Bible.
But now the Bible can be considered among them. With the review board decision, reports from Utah say it will be banned in about seven or eight elementary or high schools effective immediately, requiring copies to be removed.
With their complaint about the Holy Book, the parent included an eight-page list of passages from the Bible that they found offensive or worth reviewing.
While Williams said this week that the committee reviewing the Bible had actually determined that the Bible “contains no sensitive material as defined by the Utah Code,” the board decided to remove it from schools due to age-appropriateness.
He had previously said that the dispute would be taken seriously by the parent, just like any other complaint submitted to the review committee.
‘It’s a process. Anyone who asks to review a book must have status,” he said at the time. ‘We don’t jump to conclusions, we go through the whole process. We don’t blow off one request because we think it’s stupid.
‘This has taken a lot of time. We have set up 15 committees for this purpose.’
Utah Rep. Ivory, who sponsored the bill, took up the challenge from The Bible in March, saying: “It’s an underhanded blow to parents who are simply trying to maintain a healthy learning environment for all students in the schools.
“I have every confidence that no school district will consider the Bible a violation of 10/76/1227.”
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 hear the appeal, a committee of three members of the Davis School District Board of Education will review the original complaint and appeal and make a recommendation for the full board to vote on.
The final decision will be made in an upcoming meeting, The Tribune reported.
Should the committee decide that the Bible is appropriate, it will be returned to all schools in the district.
The parent’s challenge to the school board was first reported in March.
The parents’ challenge clearly showed that it was a backlash against other book bans and takedowns under the Utah Code.
Pictured: A page from the Davis School District website
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
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 much more efficient.
“Now we can all ban books and you don’t even have to read them or be accurate. You don’t even have 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 tramples on education and freedom of access to literature.
In response to a request for comment from The Tribune in March, Utah Parents United told the publication, “We believe in following the law. That’s all we ask schools to do.’