There are things and movements afoot that are considered very scary.
A story in the Washington Post by Oliver Knox:
"IN UTAH, A SECOND COMING FOR THE BIBLE"
Utah’s Davis School District, which made headlines when it banned the Bible because of its scenes of sex and violence, has now reversed that decision and put it back on library shelves, accessible to students of all ages, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Courtney Tanner recently reported.
The person who had requested its removal had pointed to books restricted or banned following a push by conservative groups that have focused on works featuring issues of race or LGBTQ+ Americans.
“If those books were being removed, the parent said, the Bible should be, too, for containing scenes of incest, bestiality and rape in the King James edition.”
The politics: District by district, state by state, conservatives are waging a national campaign to restrict access to — or outright banning of — books and instruction that offends them. Liberals are looking for ways to push back.
Parents showed up on June 7, 2023, at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City. Bible-toting parents and Republican lawmakers convened on Utah’s Capitol to protest a suburban school district that announced it had removed the Bible from some schools last week.
First off, I am totally against removing books from either school instructions, or libraries. I trust that both teachers and librarians have the wherewith-all and know best what books are both needed by students and reasonable for education.
When parents, usually in an emotional state, begin dictating what is moral and what is not, we are crossing the line in education.
Removing the Bible, or any religion’s book, is stupid, just as removing books on sexuality, politics, or social norms.
Now Hear this... today’s students are not stupid. They know moral boundaries by the time they enter school, or the parents- up to this point- have failed them miserably. Morality starts in the home and no amount of censorship should be blanketed upon a school. Educators are not stupid. They realize that a library subscription to overly graphic magazines is not in the best interest of students. They also know that literature such as A Catcher in the Rye, and myriad books on sexuality, are appropriate for emerging minds. When school boards are verbally and physically attacked on contents of books, we have a bigger problem in overall morality.
Guess what? Homosexuality exists, so do transgender individuals and all the rest.
A Gallup poll found that 7.2% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than straight or heterosexual (The actual figures are much higher). The percentage has doubled since Gallup first measured LGBTQ+ identification in 2012. The reason for the increase is simply people are being more honest and yes, coming out of the proverbial closet. More than half of LGBTQ+ adults identify as bisexual. LGBTQ+ identification is much more common among younger adults than older adults.
Simply put, being categorized in any form of LGBTQ+ is not due to books in a library, or educational exposure. There are things in nature/ biology that determine sexuality. Socially, there has been every form of LGBTQ+ throughout history and civilizations. How a civilization excepts/recognizes differences in sexuality, race, and education is the factor in acceptance.
There will always be those opposed to any definitional factors in a society, but when those factors emerge, usually through vocal minorities, persecution and prosection follow.
Yes, the Bruce Jenners, cross dressers, homosexuals and all forms of what the mainstream proclaims as ‘not normal’ exist, they always have. Believe it, or not, there are societies that deem LGBTQ+ as normal. Perhaps we need to realize that those opposed to differences are the ones who are not normal and need educating.
