A Utah parent frustrated by the banning of materials from schools has convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses are too vulgar or violent for younger children.
And the Book of Mormon could be next.
The 72,000-student Davis School District north of Salt Lake City removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to the parental complaint. The district has previously removed other titles, following a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes “sensitive material.”
On Friday, a complaint was also submitted about the Book of Mormon, the signature scripture of the predominant faith in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
District spokesperson Chris Williams said the district doesn’t differentiate between requests to review books and doesn’t consider whether complaints may be submitted as satire. The reviews are handled by a committee made up of teachers, parents and administrators in the largely conservative community.
The decision comes as conservative parent activists, including state-based chapters of the group Parents United, descend on school boards and statehouses throughout the United States, sowing alarm about how sex and violence are talked about in schools.
A copy of the complaint obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request shows that the parent noted the Bible contains instances of incest, prostitution and rape. The complaint derided a “bad faith process” and said the district was “ceding our children’s education, First Amendment Rights, and library access” to Parents United.
“Utah Parents United left off one of the most sex-ridden books around: The Bible,” the parent’s complaint, dated December 11, said. It later went on to add, “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible (under state law) has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”
The review committee determined the Bible didn’t qualify under Utah’s definition of what’s pornographic or indecent, so it can remain in high schools.
An unnamed party filed an appeal on Wednesday.
Parents who have pushed for more say in their children’s education and materials available in schools have argued that they should control how their children are taught about matters like gender, sexuality and race.
EveryLibrary, a national political action committee, told The Associated Press last month it was tracking at least 121 different proposals introduced in legislatures this year targeting libraries, librarians, educators and access to materials. The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the US last year was the highest in 20 years, according to the American Library Association.
“If folks are outraged about the Bible being banned, they should be outraged about all the books that are being censored in our public schools,” said Kasey Meehan, who directs the Freedom to Read program at the writers’ organisation PEN America.
Australian Associated Press