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Elementary and middle schools in a school district in Utah, a state in the United States, have eliminated the Bible from their curriculum because of concerns about its “vulgarity and violence.” A complaint from a parent who found the King James Bible unsuitable for children prompted this decision.
The exclusion of the Bible is part of a more significant trend among conservative groups in various states to ban teachings related to controversial subjects like LGBT rights and racial identity. In 2022, Utah’s Republican government passed a law prohibiting the inclusion of “pornographic or indecent” books in schools. Thus, several books on sexual orientation and identity have already been banned. Similar book bans based on offensive content are also in effect in Texas, Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina. Some liberal states have also restricted certain books in schools and libraries, citing concerns about racially offensive material.
After receiving a complaint in December 2022, the Davis School District, located north of Salt Lake City, removed the Bible this week. Officials have confirmed they have already removed the seven or eight copies of the Bible from their libraries. It should be noted that the Bible was never part of the student’s curriculum.
The committee responsible for the decision did not provide further details about their rationale or specifically identify which passages were deemed to contain “vulgarity or violence.”
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the parent who filed the complaint argued the King James Bible “has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic according to our new definition,” referring to the 2022 law regarding banned books.
The Utah state legislator who authored the 2022 law had initially dismissed the request to remove the Bible, considering it a “mockery.” However, he changed his position this week, acknowledging that the Bible could be a “challenging read” for younger children. He expressed the belief that the Bible is best taught and understood within the context of family and home, according to a post on Facebook.
According to the district’s ruling, the Bible’s content does not violate the 2022 law but contains “vulgarity or violence inappropriate for younger students.” The Bible will still be available in local high schools.
Bob Johnson, a father of a student in the Davis School District, voiced his opposition to the removal of the Bible, stating, “I can’t think of what’s in the Bible you would have to take out of it. It’s not like there are pictures in it,” in an interview with CBS News.
This Utah district is not the first in the United States to remove the Bible from its libraries. Students in Kansas recently requested the removal of the Bible from their school library. Similarly, a Texas school district released the Bible from library shelves last year because of objections from members of the public who opposed conservative efforts to ban certain books.
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Source: Omanghana.com
