Utah School District Bans the Bible from Elementary and Middle Schools

Many kingdom and political leaders—not to mention the Bible itself—have predicted it, and now it’s coming to fruition. God’s Word is being banned from the public square. And so, the attack on God Himself is ramping up.

A parent in a Utah school district, frustrated by efforts of conservatives to ban materials that many consider to be pornographic from the schools’ libraries, has convinced the school board that the Bible itself contains verses that are too vulgar or violent for young children.

Last week, 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 a Scripture in response to the parent’s complaint. Back in March, the parent said the Bible is “one of the most sex-ridden books around.”

The Bible will not be removed from the district’s high schools, the Associated Press reported.

The AP also reported that district spokesperson Chris Williams confirmed that someone had also filed a review request for the Book of Mormon, but “would not say what reasons were listed.” A school board privacy policy prohibited Williams from saying whether it was the same person who complained about the Bible.

Isaiah 59:14 reads, “Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed” (NLT).

Bible teacher Kyle Winkler says that this was to be expected, and soon more will follow.

“Sadly, this kind of thing is the expected outcome of the church consumed in fighting culture wars,” Winkler told Charisma News. “if we can use the Bible in a way that causes people to perceive it as a weapon, we shouldn’t be surprised when people want to ban this weapon. I hate that.

“Because, as we Christians know, the Bible is really the story of God’s loving relationship with people. I believe that if we would get back to boasting about that story, people would come to appreciate the Bible for what it really is.”

The request of the parent to ban the Bible allegedly comes in retaliation for conservative parents’ efforts to remove inappropriate books from the libraries’ shelves. The group called Utah Parents United has targeted books like “The Bluest Eye” and “Gender Queer” to be eradicated from the school district.

Charisma columnist, author and cultural commentator Dr. Michael L. Brown says it’s “ridiculous” to compare the Bible to some of the “profane, sex-activist, LGBTQ+-exalting books” that are in our children’s libraries.

“If kids in school read the Bible and lived by its values, the schools would be transformed; if they read and lived by these radical books—which many of them are doing—the schools would go downhill (which many are),” Brown says. “For sure, not every passage in the Bible is appropriate for all ages, but it never celebrates gratuitous violence or sexual immorality–ever. In stark contrast, many of the books are being banned promote immorality and sexual deviance. We’re comparing apples to elephants here.”

Utah Rep. Kevin Ivory, a Republican from West Jordan, sponsored the bill to remove pornographic books from school libraries within the state.

The angry parents were quoted, anonymously, in the Salt Lake Tribune earlier this year saying, “Get this PORN out of our schools,” referencing the Bible. “If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk.”

The parent cited a list of 130 verses from Genesis to Revelation as the basis for her request.

Evangelist Shawn Bolz told Charisma News that religious tolerance against Christians has reached an all-time high, and this most recent ban of the Bible is a perfect example.

“While extremely offensive books that are morally corrupt are allowed to be stocked, Christianity is under attack,” Bolz said. “The average age of salvation in America is between 4 and 14 years old in America, and the enemy knows this and is empowering His army against our children. The good news is, Christianity multiplies in persecution.

“Jesus even declares a blessing on us when we are persecuted and also fights for our children and families, and its time for Christians to prayerfully expect that God has some cards up His sleeve that will not only help move the gospel forward for children but who are about to get catapulted into His plan for this generation. Expect resistance, but don’t accept it! Lets join school boards, write letters, be more involved then the enemies of our faith in areas that we can.”

Williams told the AP that 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 committee published its decision about the Bible in an online database of review requests, but did not elaborate on its reasoning for banning it.

In the past few months, many conservative parents across the country have expressed their concerns about the materials that can be found in their children’s school libraries, and it has caused a firestorm throughout the United States in school boards and statehouses.

One such case was that of Pastor John Amanchukwu, who recently addressed the school board in Asheville, North Carolina, about a book called, “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender and Sexual Health.” That book, Amanchukwu said, features images of heterosexual, lesbian and gay sex, and he says that’s not “perfectly normal” material to put before a child.

The AP reported that an unnamed party filed an appeal last week to have the Bible reinstated in the Davis District schools.

The state of Arkansas earlier this year enacted a law that would subject librarians to criminal penalties for providing “harmful” materials to minors and creates a new process for the public to request materials to be located in libraries. {eoa}

Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.