Banning Bible from school libraries subject of Capitol Hill hearing
By Amy Nay
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SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) — The subject of banning the Bible from schools led to Davis County Schools Superintendant Dan Linford and others testifying in front of Utah lawmakers on Capitol Hill Monday.
Earlier this month, the district removed the King James Version of the Bible from elementary and junior high schools after a committee found it contained “vulgarity and violence.”
“Our biggest challenge is how do we recommend common sense and our internal compasses with policy language,” said Liz Mumford, Davis County Schools Board of Education president.
Utah State Sen. Jacob Andregg, a member of the Administrative Rules and General Oversight Committee, said he found banning the Bible reprehensible, while at the same time not banning pornography.
Many parents in the district have been protesting the decision after word got out last week.
“How do we write and change this law to where books where a women naked over a man with a gun to his head is allowed in the libraries of your junior high, and the bible is not,” asked Rep. Kera Birkeland.
At one point during the meeting, State Sen. Curtis Bramble showed explicit content that was in a book which was reviewed and determined to be retained in the junior high schools after the Bible was banned. School board members said that these were separate committees.
“The challenge is that each committee views it differently. Each human being views this differently. So that is a challenge,” explained Linford.
“Adults can tell the difference between a religious text from the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, the Book of Mormon even though they depict historic or evidence of various acts, relative to pornography, that which is sexually explicit,” argued Bramble. “I mean, come on, folks!”
Mumford said the district committee was working off the language that’s in the law, and if it was a simple decision it wouldn’t still be up for debate across the country.
She added that the appeal process isn’t complete and that the board is still set to review the matter, while Linford asked for patience as they complete that process.
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