US: Schools In Utah Ban King James Bible For Containing “Vulgarity And Violence”

Citing “vulgarity and violence,” a school district in the US state of Utah has banned the Bible from its elementary and secondary schools.

The action was taken in response to a parent’s complaint that the King James Bible included inappropriate content for kids.

In 2022, the Republican-controlled government of Utah approved a law prohibiting “pornographic or indecent” textbooks. So far, the majority of the books that have been banned deal with issues like sexual orientation and identity.

The push to outlaw instruction on divisive subjects like racial identity and LGBT rights is part of a bigger effort by US conservatives in states. Texas, Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina all have book bans in effect for some publications that are judged offensive. Several liberal states also prohibited textual material in some schools and libraries as, according to them, they were taken as racially offensive.

Following a complaint filed in December 2022, the Davis School District, located north of Salt Lake City, announced the decision about Utah this week. The seven or eight copies of the Bible that were on the shelves, according to officials, have already been taken down. They note that the book was never taught in classes.

Which passages contained “vulgarity or violence” or the committee’s reasons were not specified.

The parent who protested, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, claimed that the King James Bible “has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition” in reference to the 2022 book-ban rule.

The Utah state lawmaker who drafted the 2022 law initially called the effort to remove the Bible from schools a “mockery,” but this week he reversed his statement and called it a “challenging read” for young ones.

Ken Ivory stated on Facebook that “Traditionally, in America, the Bible is best taught, and best understood, in the home, and around the hearth, as a family.”

According to the district’s decision, the Bible has “vulgarity or violence not suitable for younger students,” but it does not violate the 2022 rule. The local high schools will continue to use the book.