Primary schools in the conservative state of Utah have been forced to ban the Bible after its “vulgarity and violence” was deemed to fall foul of censorship laws.
Book bans in schools have been sweeping America, mostly drawn up by Republicans to reduce access to literature with LGBT or gender identity references.
Utah has introduced prohibitions on books deemed “pornographic or indecent”, leading to one parent ironically complaining about the contents of the Bible.
The Davis School District, the second largest in the state with nearly 74,000 children, has limited the Bible to older children after an unnamed parent complained it was “one of the most sex-ridden books around”.
A district review committee, which considered the complaint, said it would “retain the book in school library circulation only at the high school level based on age appropriateness due to vulgarity or violence”.
In what is being seen as a liberal fightback in the “war on woke”, the parent submitted an eight-page complaint packed with examples of objectionable biblical passages.
“Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent wrote.
“You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”
Conservative groups across the US have stepped up their war on woke by demanding the removal of inappropriate literature from schools.
“I thank the Utah Legislature and Utah Parents United for making this bad faith process so much easier and way more efficient,” the parent added.
“Now we can all ban books and you don’t even need to read them or be accurate about it. Heck, you don’t even need to see the book.”
The committee’s decision, which followed a detailed examination of the King James version of the Bible has been appealed by another member of the public, who wants it retained.
Christopher Williams, the school district spokesman, said it would be left to a full panel of the Board of Education to make a final decision.
He added that he believed only seven or eight school libraries even had a Bible on their shelves, adding that the book was not part of the curriculum.
Book of Mormon could be next
It is not only the Bible that is under threat in Utah.
The Davis School District has also been asked to consider a demand to ban the Book of Mormon, the credo of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If the plea is upheld, the book, which was published in 1830 by Joseph Smith, would be banned in the home state of the Mormon church.
In conservative states across the US, books have been swept off the shelves of schools and libraries as the culture war has intensified.
In Florida, whose governor Ron DeSantis is seen as Donald Trump’s main rival for the Republican presidential nomination, a single parent can demand a review of an “inappropriate” book.
Oklahoma’s legislature debated a law that focused on sexual activity, sexual identity or gender identity.
The curbs have alarmed the American Library Association.
“The curation of library collections for young people should not be left to politicians and advocacy groups who place politics above young peoples’ education needs,” said one of its directors, Deborah Caldwell-Stone.
It is likely to be a key issue in next year’s presidential election.
Conservative strategists believe that imposing restrictions on “inappropriate” books appearing in school libraries will win parental votes.
However, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have repeatedly condemned the bans as being propagated by “Maga extremists”.
And earlier this year the Biden administration opened an investigation into a Texas school district’s removal of books featuring LGBTQ characters, arguing that it could constitute illegal discrimination.
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