A complaint has been filed with at least eight school districts in Florida to ban the Bible, arguing that the holy book’s contents fall under topics “prohibited” by a controversial new state law.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis last Friday signed new guidelines of the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) or the Stop WOKE Act that had become law last month.
The law aims to limit discussions in businesses and schools around Critical Race Theory, which Mr DeSantis called a “pernicious” ideology.
The legislation prohibits instruction that suggests members of one race are inherently racist and a person’s social status as privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by their race.
Activist Chaz Stevens, citing House Bill 1467 which allows members of the public to challenge and ban books that are part of school classrooms and libraries, asked school districts to ban the Bible and “any book that references to the Bible”.
He said that the religious book contains subjects pertaining to slavery, racism and rape, thus qualifying it to be banned under the legislation.
“If they’re gonna ban books, then the whole library should be in play. My hope — and it’s a longshot — is that they will apply their own standards to themselves and ban the Bible,” Mr Stevens told The Miami New Times.
The activist cited age inappropriateness, “wokeness”, social-emotional learning, bestiality, killing children and rape as seven reasons to ban the Bible.
In his letter to the school districts, he said each of the topics is supported by a corresponding excerpt from the Bible.
“I wish to file such an objection, requesting the Miami-Dade County Public School system immediately remove the Bible from the classroom, library, and any instructional material,” Mr Stevens wrote in his letter.
“And, as is often the case with banned books, I ask your agency lay flame to that giant stack of fiction in a pyre worthy of a Viking sendoff,” it read.
“With the constant babbling concerns about teaching Critical Race Theory, should we not take stock of the Bible’s position on slavery? I am concerned our young white students will read such passages and wake up to civilization’s sordid past,” Mr Stevens added.
The Stop WOKE law comes after Florida passed what has been dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, barring classroom discussions surrounding sexuality and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.
Since July 2021, over 200 books, mostly covering gender, race and sexuality have been banned in different Florida school districts.
Critics have raised concerns over the Republican governor’s bid to introduce arbitrary laws to systematically attack Florida's education system.
Recently, 54 math textbooks from the curriculum were rejected for allegedly containing topics such as “Critical Race Theory”.
Mr DeSantis’ focus on culture war issues involving race and gender, however, has made him one of the most popular Republican leaders in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
