'A Utah parent says the Bible contains porn and should be removed from school libraries'

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'A Utah parent says the Bible contains porn and should be removed from school libraries'

1aspirit
Bearbeitet: Mrz. 24, 2023, 7:26 pm

I know many of LibraryThing members worry about the Holy Bible being accessible everywhere, so this news is almost certainly of interest here.

Original article from The Salt Lake Tribune:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023/03/22/utah-parent-says-bible-contains... (paywalled)

Alternate article from Newser:
https://www.newser.com/story/333117/utah-parent-says-bible-is-porn-under-book-ba... (links to Fox)

Summary:

Utah passed a new law last year entirely banning books containing "pornographic or indecent" content from Utah schools. In December, one parent challenged the Bible in their northern Utah school district. Reasons: "Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide" that "under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has 'no serious values for minors' because it’s pornographic by our new definition." Eight pages of quotations from the Bible were submitted in the parent's request that the book be removed from the schools.

The school district is reviewing the challenge by committee. Its process is said to typically last 60 days. That would have ended for this challenge in February. The school district has suggested that an overwhelming backlog of book challenges by parents has delayed the review. (Utah Parents United has mostly been challenging books "written by and about the LGBTQ community and people of color" according to the Salt Lake newspaper.)

The law allows for the removal of books during reviews. However, the school district says the Bible continues to be available for checkout. So do the holy books that have not been challenged: Book of Mormon, Torah and Quran. (Utah Parents United challenged almost 50 book titles in the same school district last year. None were holy texts.)

2Cecrow
Apr. 21, 2023, 1:15 pm

This reads like a strategic argument rather than a serious one. My gut suspects this particular parent doesn't care whether the Bible is banned or not, he/she just wants to see this school district stew in its own juices.

3aspirit
Apr. 23, 2023, 12:11 pm

>3 aspirit: I'm certain your gut is correct. This reads to me as if the one parent is using the one book that always makes headlines when challenged to bring attention to what's happening in the district. That's why I alluded to the other challenges in my summary.

Based on what's happened elsewhere in the past year or two, I'm guessing The Bible and all of its variations will be deemed appropriate for public (government-funded) schools in all spaces while most of the 21st Century books featuring sexual, gender, and/or racial minorities will be banned from school property.

4Artoriarius
Jun. 3, 2023, 7:58 am

Utah primary schools ban Bible for 'vulgarity and violence': https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65794363

It just goes to show, really, that it’s not *about* morals and Christian values—those are just called upon because the lazier variety of Christians, who rarely touch the Bible and think going to Church every Sunday is enough, will follow along like good little sheep behind any Bible-thumping politician. It’s about control, power, and dominance, and if the Holy Word of God conflicts with that, then the Holy Word of God has got to go.

5Cecrow
Bearbeitet: Jun. 3, 2023, 2:16 pm

Great news. Excellent chance this triggers division within the banning camp.

Does show how trenchant they can be about not backing down, even when "This law is obviously stupid" is being flashed in capital letters in front of their eyes. Now they've rewound all the way back to the "We can't produce an English translation of the Latin Bible, then just anyone could start reading it, the horrors!" days. But obviously they know better than 600+ years of progress.

6aspirit
Jun. 4, 2023, 11:22 am

Already, though, the committee’s decision has been appealed by another parent, Williams said, who wants the Bible to remain on the shelves for students of all ages.

To handle that appeal, the district will now form a committee consisting of three members of Davis School District’s Board of Education. They will review the original complaint and the appeal and make a recommendation to the full board to vote on.

The board will make the final decision in an upcoming public meeting. A date for that has not yet been set.

— Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023/06/01/bible-is-banned-these-utah/

There's no word on what happened with any of the other books that have been removed. The last update I see is from before The Bible's challenge was filed.

Of the 280 book complaints {within the first six months under the new law—and that’s from only nine of Utah's 41 school districts—} Deputy Superintendent Angela Stallings said that most {books} were removed or restricted. Schools removed 84 of the titles and put 63 behind the counter of libraries, requiring parent permission for students to check out.

— Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2022/10/24/heres-how-many-utah-parent/

All of the hundreds of initial complaints reported to the state were in middle and high schools. Among the books challenged in high schools (mostly for students aged 14 through 18):

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

7Nicole_VanK
Jun. 5, 2023, 9:50 am

Okay, but they do have a point. The bible is full of horrors; from incest, to rape, to genocide. So yeah, if mentioning those is a criterium for banning books, the bible should absolutely be banned too.

8Cecrow
Jun. 5, 2023, 1:56 pm

The intended awkwardness here was that, by knocking the Bible off the shelf, which you'd think would be at the core of whatever moral argument underlies these bannings in the first place, the internal contradiction would become apparent. How much more absurdity can they stand before this banning thing eats itself is now the question.

9aspirit
Jun. 8, 2023, 10:35 pm

I came across a 2015 humor piece (containing real Bible quotes) today.

"The 8 kinkiest passages of the Bible:
Dildos, dongs and a near-endless supply of boobs. The Good Book is a whole lot naughtier than we give it credit" by Anna Pulley, Salon
https://www.salon.com/2015/04/06/the_8_kinkiest_passages_of_the_bible_partner/

This was about the same time I learned of a Salt Lake City protest against Davis School District's banning of the Bible in elementary and middle schools.

"Utah district’s Bible ban spurs protest by parents, Republicans" by Sam Metz, AP
https://apnews.com/article/utah-bible-ban-school-38a39017ee0ff96a96f24007a836302...

The pushback has also emboldened book-banning critics, who argue anger at removing the Bible illustrates arbitrary and political double standards and the issues inherent to removing books that have certain content.

The writer's pro-censorship bias for everything that's not the Bible is interesting. Does he not understand that the protestors are "book-banning critics" or does he not see the Bible as a "book"?

10Cecrow
Jun. 9, 2023, 10:55 pm

>9 aspirit:, that is one of the more interesting Top 10 - sorry, Top 8 - lists I've ever read, lol. Great find.

11Artoriarius
Jun. 10, 2023, 8:43 am

>9 aspirit: "Does he not understand that the protestors are "book-banning critics" or does he not see the Bible as a "book"?"

I think he’s making a distinction between "people who were already book-banning critics" and "people who are only now protesting because it’s the Bible".

12aspirit
Jun. 10, 2023, 10:24 am

>11 Artoriarius: I agree. The overall slant of the article has me thinking the author is in the second group and, like the other new protesters, doesn't see what the Bible has in common with the hundreds of books previously removed from schools in the same district.