June 3 (UPI) — A Utah school district says it is evaluating a parent challenge to the appropriateness of the Book of Mormon for libraries after earlier removing the Bible from the shelves due to a similar challenge.
School officials in Davis County, Utah, confirmed Friday they are reviewing whether the foundational text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints should be available at elementary and junior high school libraries, The Salt Lake Tribune and KSL-TV reported.
The latest action comes just days after a review committee that evaluates school texts decided to remove the Bible from elementary and middle school libraries while retaining it in high school libraries.
Both reviews stem from a 2022 law that allows parents to submit requests to have books containing “indecent material” removed from school libraries. The law was originally seen as targeting literature related to the LGBTQ+ community.
The request to have the Bible removed came from a parent who objected to how the law was being used, the Tribune reported.
The committee decided that the “vulgarity and violence” in the King James Bible was not appropriate for elementary school students while other versions of the Bible were kept on the shelves, district spokesperson Christopher Williams told the newspaper.
The review of the Book of Mormon was requested because it, as with many sacred texts across major religions, contains depictions of extreme violence.
Despite the fact that Utah has a millions-strong Latter Day Saints population, the school district insisted its review would be impartial.
“The district will treat this request just like any other request, and will follow the policy as outlined in the 41-202 School Library Media Centers policy,” Davis School District director of communication Christopher Williams told KSL.
The decision to remove the Bible, meanwhile, was appealed this week, which will prompt a second review from the committee.