Global Courant 2023-04-25 20:16:18
A nonprofit religious freedom law firm sent a letter to the Sensitive Materials Review Committee of a Utah school district, arguing that it is both reasonable and legal to keep the Bible in libraries, after a parent complained that the book was pornographic.
Attorneys for the First Liberty Institute informed the Davis School District in Farmington that the Bible has “serious value for minors” and warned that “removal of the Bible would constitute hostility to Christianity” that would raise constitutional concerns, according to the advice letter they sent Monday.
The letter comes after a parent in the district responded to the state’s ban on sexually explicit books in school libraries by calling for the Bible to be removed from a public school because of its alleged pornographic content.
“Get this PORN out of our schools,” the parent wrote in a December complaint first reported last month by the Salt Lake Grandstand. “If the books banned so far are indicative of much lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk.”
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First Liberty Institute lawyers urged the Davis School District in Utah that removing the Bible from schools would provide students with an “incomplete education” and raise constitutional problems. (iStock)
The parent claimed that the Bible is “one of the most sex-ridden books out there” and requested that it be removed from Davis High School in Kaysville after claiming that its contents violated Utah state code under the passage of HB374 last May, which banned children’s access to obscene books in schools.
The parent too submitted an eight-page list of over 130 allegedly offensive Bible passages.
Davis School District spokesman Christopher Williams said at the time that the Bible complaint is one of 81 requests the district has filed since the new law was passed. according to The Christian Post.
Noting how Utah’s state code allows parents to petition the removal of material from schools that is “harmful to minors,” “pornographic,” or “has no serious value to minors,” First Liberty’s attorneys asserted that “the Bible none of these things,” and that students risk “an incomplete education” if the book is removed from schools.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that compulsory religious activity in public schools was unconstitutional, but that the study of religion objectively did not violate the First Amendment. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“In fact, according to the Supreme Court of the United States, ‘(i)t can certainly be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historical qualities,'” the lawyers said, referring to the 1963 Abington case for the Supreme Court. School district against Schempp. The landmark ruling found that mandatory religious activity in public schools was unconstitutional, but the court also argued “that such study of the Bible or religion, when objectively presented as part of a secular educational program” did not violate the First Amendment.
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First Liberty noted that 98% of high school English teachers agreed that students who lack knowledge of the Bible are at a disadvantage when reading and studying English literature, according to a survey by the Bible Literacy projectT. The survey also found that 38 of 39 English professors at leading universities in the US believe that a person must have Bible knowledge to be fully educated.
First Liberty lawyers also warned that removing the Bible while allowing the holy books of other religions would show hostility to Christianity. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
First Liberty further argued that removing the Bible while leaving other religious holy books would be “unconstitutional hostility to Christianity that the Constitution will not tolerate”, especially given that some of the verses the parent disagrees with was also in the Torah and the prophetic books of the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible.
The letter concluded by urging the school district to “exercise extreme caution when reviewing the Bible” and “follow precedent that deems the Bible of high educational value for students and not to act in a manner that is hostile.” stands against Christianity by removing the Bible from the district libraries.”
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“The serious educational value of the Bible to high school students is beyond question,” Keisha Russell, counsel for First Liberty, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Far from being inappropriate, as many studies have shown, knowledge of the Bible is actually crucial to a student’s education. Importantly, it is also illegal for the school district to show hostility to a particular religion or religious text. school district must abide by the law.”
Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
