A Utah parent is calling on the Davis School District just north of Salt Lake City to remove the Bible from a high school, calling it “one of the most sex-ridden books around.” “Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent listed as examples. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.” The parent’s request, filed December 11, 2022, included an 8-page list of over 130 Scripture references, which the parent cited as being offensive. Genesis 6:4 is one of the verses cited, which refers to the “sons of God” coming into the daughters of men. Many passages from Song of Solomon also made the list. The parent also stated that some of Jesus’s words are “pornographic,” citing Revelation when Jesus says, “But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.” “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,” the complainant wrote. 

The complaint came after Utah passed HB 374, which was passed in March 2022, to limit “sensitive materials” from being taught in school. The law defined “sensitive materials” as “pornographic or indecent material.” The code, however, does make exceptions to any material of “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” The website for Utah Parents United, a group that pushed for the passing of HB 374, includes a link to a list of books that have been found in Utah schools with sexually explicit material. One such example in the Davis school district is Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, a book that has often been discussed as being miscategorized as Young Adult and is often catalogued in the Adult Fantasy section of most libraries. The book was found in the South Davis Jr. High School and included sexually explicit scenes and nudity. 

The Utah Parents United responded to the parent’s request as a “political stunt.” In a Facebook post, the group wrote, “We take book challenges seriously. We recognize challenges take resources and time away from teaching. If we do not believe a book violates the law, we don’t waste the time of teachers and parents by challenging it.” They cited the statement of Utah Representative Ken Ivory, who called the challenge “a backhanded slap to parents that are simply trying to keep a healthy learning environment for all students in the schools. I have every confidence that no school district will consider the Bible as violating 76-10-1227.” Speaking further about the complaint, Ivory said, “There was a purpose to the bill and this kind of stuff, it’s very unfortunate. There are a number of studies that directly link sexualization and hyper-sexualization with sexual exploitation and abuse. Certainly, those are things we don’t want in schools,” he said. He stated that with the amount of Bible study the complainant had to do, he hoped “they paid attention to other parts of the Bible….”