Schools in the United States have banned the Bible after a student’s father complains that he alleges “incest, rape and prostitution”

Several schools in a school district of UtahUNITED STATES OF AMERICA, they banned the Bible after parent of a student denounced it as “pornographic” for its sexual and violent content.

The complainant, reports the agency EFE extensioninvoked a state law That allows the withdrawal of books deemed inappropriate by educational centers for students.

The man indicated that the Bible contains passages on incest, rape and prostitution, and is essentially “pornographic”. in accordance with a state regulation passed in 2022 used primarily by conservative groups to censor books on racial or LGBT issues, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday.

‘Take this porn out of our schools! If the books that have so far been banned are indicative of very minor crimes, this should be a coup de grâce,” the father reportedly wrote. Daily mail.

The complaint, which concerns the Davis School District in Utah, has come a long way since it was filed last December and, after being reviewed this week, a committee dedicated to the matter has decided that the Bible should be removed from institutions. high-level education. initial and middle, although the secondaries can keep it.

Upon learning of the decision on Friday, Republican lawmaker who pushed through legislation limiting access to “indecent” books, Ken Ivory, who first criticized the “pornographic” label for the Bible and said it was of a “joke” and a political misrepresentation, he relented and also thanked the committee for vetoing the religious text in toddlers’ classrooms and libraries.

In a Facebook post, Ivory called the Bible “difficult reading” for younger students in the compulsory education system, adding that “traditionally, in America, the Bible is best taught and best understood, at home and around the fireside.” like a family”.

In his opinion grandstandthe father filed a complaint, out of frustration over the withdrawal of books from schools thanks to conservative complaints, a trend noted in April by the main groups advocating for freedom of expression in the US, the American Library Association (ALA) and the writers’ organization PEN America.

The ALA reported that book censorship attempts doubled in 2022 from a year earlier to a two-decade high, while PEN America similarly saw an increase in school book bans, attributing it directly to the effect of laws restrictions promoted by Republican-governed states, such as Utah, Florida and Missouri.

What does the state regulation say that allowed the Bible to be withdrawn from schools in Utah

Pursuant to the Utah Code invoked by the student’s parent, any book containing descriptions of explicit sexual arousal, stimulation, masturbation, intercourse, sodomy, or fondling may be removed upon parental request.

Anyone requesting the removal of the sacred text would have had to present 49 pages of evidence that could be considered inappropriate.

The book in question must include indecent public exposure as defined by law, including a description of illicit sex or sexual immorality.

According to state attorneys, if there is a scene in a book involving such acts, it should be removed from schools immediately, as the material must not be “taken as a whole” or left on the shelves during the review process. .

Rep. Ken Ivory said upon passing the bill, “We are clarifying the appropriate age limits.”

Books pulled from libraries under the code so far include “The Bluest Eye,” a critically acclaimed novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, and “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel about the author’s journey toward self-identity. .

db