FFRF ad in Utah daily urges 'ban bible, Book of Mormon'

 MADISON, Wis., June 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a provocative full-page ad picturing a bible and the Book of Mormon with a headline saying "BAN THESE BOOKS" in Sunday's Salt Lake City Tribune (June 18).

The national state/church watchdog is campaigning to compel Utah to treat so-called "holy books" the same as other literature school districts are removing from school libraries in the wake of a book-banning law.

"If the state of Utah and its school boards insist on censoring 'sensitive' material in our public schools," the FFRF ad states, "then they must start with the bible and Book of Mormon."

The bible is "replete with violent, graphic, degrading descriptions as well as age-inappropriate stories," including descriptions of "sperm, menstruation, intercourse, rape, incest, masturbation, homosexuality, fornication, adultery, sadism, sexual mutilation and 'harlots' and 'whores,'" says FFRF. Sordid tales of incest, rape, voyeurism, pimping, plural marriages and concubinage are related, often approvingly.

Passages such as Ezekiel 23:20?21 and Revelation, Chapter 17 "cannot even be printed in a family-friendly newspaper." FFRF offers documentation at ffrf.org/X-rated and unpleasantgod.ffrf.org. Book of Mormon passages on concubines, polygamy and raping and killing war prisoners are likewise unsuitable.

Although FFRF states, "Thoughtful people abhor the banning of books, as does the Freedom of Religion Foundation," it adds: "Utah cannot adopt one standard for so-called 'holy books' and another for all other books." Instead, the legislature should stop the "folly" of book banning and repeal its misguided law, H.B. 374, thereby striking a blow for the freedom to read and the First Amendment.

FFRF bolstered the complaint of a parent whose request to ban the bible in light of numerous book removals in Davis County Schools ended in a controversial vote May 31 to remove the King James Version from lower-grade libraries. FFRF maintains the district did not go far enough and is prodding Davis County Schools to remove bibles from all school libraries.

The Davis County Schools vote created statewide consternation by religionists, who held a rally at the state Capitol.

"This is a case of being careful what you wish for," comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "The bible ban is a logical if unintended consequence of this very bad bill. We hope this consequence will lead to the rational conclusion of repealing H.B. 374."

SOURCE Freedom From Religion Foundation