A political stunt activist made use of Florida's recently enacted law HB 1467 to ban the Bible in public schools, citing its contents as inappropriate.
Florida atheist Chaz Stevens had sent demand letters to Florida school districts, including Miami-Dade and Broward County Public Schools to "immediately remove the Bible from the classroom, library, and any instructional material" to protest against the new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Tallahassee Democrat reported.
"Let's be honest - banning books is never a good idea, but what's fair is fair, and with that in mind, please find attached my request to ban the Bible," wrote Stevens in an email.
He questioned whether the Bible's mentions of adultery, fornication, drunken orgies, and immorality are age-appropriate. He argued some passages were "harmful and obscene" to minors. He also raised his concerns about Bible's position on slavery.
He wrote, "With the constant babbling concerns about teaching Critical Race Theory, should we not take stock of the Bible's position on slavery?" Citing Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians 6:5-7, he said, "I am concerned our young white students will read such passages and wake up to civilization's sordid past."
Meanwhile, Faithwire pointed out that the slavery issue has been answered by many apologists and Bible teachers yet the issue remained to be a "popular line of attack from some atheists."
As he continued his points, the book couldn't also help in the social-emotional learning of some learners. He said, "The most troubling of issues for many, as it's obvious once we teach little Jimmy and Susie to show empathy for their classmates, they're one giant step closer to getting their LGBTQ+ freak on."
He pointed out that "In the end, if Jimmy and Susie are curious about any of the above, they can do what everyone does - get a room at the Motel Six and grab the Gideons."
Billy Epting, assistant superintendent of Leon County Schools, would review the complaint with the directors of elementary, middle, and high school and Superintendent Rocky Hanna. He said, "If I don't, that creates a situation where I'm showing favoritism or injecting personal opinion in the process. The last thing I want to do is pretend or take something as a joke or satirical and it comes back to bite us."
Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that he was provoked after Florida lawmakers rejected 54 mathematics textbooks that were claimed to have included topics such as Critical Race theory to Common Core learning concepts in the K-12 curriculum. Stevens, who studied applied mathematics in college, said "I love the algebras. And those Tally [Tallahassee] loons just banned a bunch of arithmetic books?"
Though reviewing dozens of books has been a common thing to school districts as per request of the parents whether books like "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison and "50 Shades of Grey" by E.L. James were harmful to students. Stevens, who does not have any children enrolled in Florida public schools, submitted the petitions as a means of illustrating the hypocrisy. "I don't have the votes," he said. "My job is merely to turn hypocrisy on itself and let the bureaucrats each other for lunch." Based on the report, Stevens and his group hadn't got any response, yet they will monitor closely its progress.
