Utah School District Bans the Bible in Elementary and Middle Schools

Due to a parent’s challenge, a Davis School District in Utah removed the Bible from elementary and middle schools for containing “vulgarity or violence.”

The Details: A parent filed a supposedly tongue-in-cheek complaint, suggesting the Bible should be barred under Utah’s 2022 legislation, which aimed to ban books that featured “pornographic” content. The district determined the Bible does not violate the law, but is “not suitable for younger students.”

For Context: Shortly after the decision was announced, another parent filed a request for the Book of Mormon to be reviewed for inappropriate content, which the school is now planning to review. Another parent has filed an appeal, seeking to overturn the Bible’s ban.

Key Quotes: The parent’s original complaint said, “Get this PORN out of our schools. If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk.” Rep. Ken Ivory (R-UT), who drafted the 2022 law, initially dismissed the challenge as “mockery,” but changed his stance this week, calling the Bible a “challenging read” for younger children. “Traditionally, in America, the Bible is best taught, and best understood, in the home, and around the hearth, as a family,” Ivory wrote on Facebook.

How The Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum covered the news similarly.