The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Hanover County School Board in Ashland, Va., immediately remove the bible from its school libraries as part of its new book banning crusade purportedly targeting “sexually explicit,” “vulgar” and “obscene” content.
After a contentious meeting on June 13, the board passed a new book ban policy, granting itself full discretion to decide whether or not to remove certain books from school libraries. It immediately banned more than a dozen books, including All Boys Aren’t Blue, The Bluest Eye and This Book Is Gay. The new policy gives the board the “sole discretion” to “remove any and all materials of its choosing from the library, classroom, school building(s) and or division.” During the meeting, both supporters and opponents of the policy called for the board to delay the vote and rework it to better suit teachers, students and school families.
A number of books were voted to be removed for telling stories of homosexuality, sexual abuse, sex slavery, sexual assault, drunkenness, racism and incest. In response, the state/church watchdog is requesting that, in keeping with the new policy and practice, the board immediately ban the bible from all district schools for the same reason.
“Most of the books you have chosen to ban so far contain material far less objectionable than found in the bible, with its insensitive writings on issues such as racism, graphic sexual references, rape, incest and sexual abuse,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes.
“While FFRF abhors book banning, these school districts can’t engage in viewpoint discrimination,” points out FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Since the district has started this dangerous folly of banning books, it must evaluate books on a content-neutral basis. And if it does so, the district will see that the bible is X-rated and must be banned under its policy at all public school levels.”
As FFRF’s letter has documented, many bible verses display a lewd, depraved, pornographic view of sex and women, with sexual violence often ordered or countenanced by the biblical deity. These include sordid tales of victims forced to marry their rapists, graphic sexual depictions, and countless references to sperm, intercourse, menstruation, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery and “harlots and whores.”
FFRF has compiled a list of nearly 150 bible verses displaying a “pornographic view of sex and women, lewdness, depravity and sexual violence often ordered or countenanced by the biblical deity” entitled An X-Rated Book: Sex & Obscenity in the Bible. FFRF Co-President Dan Barker has written an entire book on the evils of the bible, GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction. Chapters document “divinely” ordered genocide, infanticide and filicide, among many other atrocities, as well as the biblical deity’s racism, sexism, slavemongering and sadomasochism. These verses are one reason why FFRF makes available bible warning stickers to place on hotel bibles saying, “Warning: Literal belief in this book may endanger your health and life.”
FFRF is concerned about the new policy and the unbridled discretion the board has given itself to control the content of materials available to district students. The best solution is to leave a diversity of viewpoints in school libraries, and trust students to explore complex topics themselves. However, so long as the board is on a crusade to remove any book containing sexual content, the bible may not be given special treatment and it must be removed too.
Much of the book banning impetus is manufactured, with pre-made lists of books and quotes circulated by self-righteous grandstanders who are hostile to critical thinking. In short, the current wave of book banning is not about protecting children, it is about discouraging thought.
“So long as the other books you have banned remain unavailable, you must be even-handed about your purge and all versions of the bible must be removed post-haste from all district schools,” FFRF concludes.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 900 members in Virginia. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
