Texas book ban backfires after school removes Bible over "sexually explicit" content
GOP Rep. Jared Patterson now says the Bible was never meant to be removed from school shelves
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A Republican-led book ban backfired after a public school district in Texas decided to remove the Bible from its shelves on account of it being too “sexually explicit,” and the controversy only subsided after the law’s sponsor intervened to get it back in front of students.
In 2023, the Republican-supermajority in Texas passed House Bill 900, sponsored by Rep. Jared Patterson, which required school libraries to remove any books deemed “sexually explicit.” Recently, Dr. Darryl Flusche, superintendent of the Canyon Independent School District, sent an email to an unnamed person letting them know the “full text of the Bible” would not be available to students. That email soon went public.
This standard for library content prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content as described above. Therefore, HB900 doesn’t allow numerous books, including the full text of the Bible, to be available in the school library.
There are 30 titles available in the Canyon Junior High library that are Bible stories or portions of the Bible…
Additionally, if any student would like to have a Bible, we have strong connections with local churches that are happy to donate a Bible upon request. We are more than willing to assist a student who would like access to a Bible by arranging this from one of our partnering churches.
Setting aside the bizarre spectacle of a public school district having “partnering churches,” it was an uncontroversial response to a controversial issue. Perhaps some parents wanted to know why the Bible wasn’t available in their kid’s junior high, and the principal said the law prohibited it, but there were options available if a student really wanted the book.
Don’t blame me! he argued. Blame the law!
He wasn’t wrong to interpret the law this way. After all, the Bible has depictions of incest, rape, incestuous rape, allusions to bestiality, other forms of sexual assault, and prostitution. If those scenes were in some young adult novel, Christian parents would be up in arms about it.
But obviously, Republicans never intended for their book ban to apply to books they like, so it was time for damage control. At a school board meeting on December 9, one Christian parent argued that the Bible needed to be available to students... without trying to patch up the GOP-created loophole. (She said people who agreed with her needed to contact their elected representatives.)
Without further explanation, though, late last week, the district told a local news outlet that the Bible was back on the shelves:
"After receiving clarification from Representative (Jared) Patterson regarding library content, we reevaluated the guidelines and are pleased to have the Bible available in each of our Canyon ISD libraries."
So the sponsor of the bill intervened to tell them the Bible was an exception to his own law? Why?! What did he say?
While having the Bible available to kids might calm down whiny Christian parents, the rest of us are left without a public explanation for why the Bible (which is sexually explicit) doesn’t violate a law than bans sexually explicit material from school libraries.
In a letter sent to Flusche last Wednesday, Patterson didn’t really explain the hypocrisy in any sensible way (though he accidentally admitted this really was a book “ban,” contrary to statements made by many members of his own party). Instead, he blamed the superintendent for taking such a drastic move, thereby making Republicans look bad:
Let me be very clear: the Bible, and other religious texts, are protected under HB 900. Moreover, the Bible does not contain sexually explicit content as defined by HB 900. Any assertion to the contrary is either rooted in ignorance of state law or an open hostility to the will of the people.
I honestly cannot grasp how you could arrive at this decision. Perhaps you disagree with our fight against radically explicit content in public schools like Canyon ISD. Not only is your interpretation of HB 900 completely wrong, but your decision to ban the Bible was likely illegal. Texas law clearly states religious texts must be available to students in schools.
Within Chapter 28, Section 28.002 of the Texas Education Code, the Bible is included as "enrichment school curriculum" due to the importance of the Holy text. The definition was established in code long before HB 900 was filed, emphasizing the importance of these texts remaining in schools and their libraries. Further, I have discovered that you did not publicly post that you are banning the Bible from Canyon ISD, as you posted about removing actual explicit content. Is there a reason behind your lack of transparency?
He can’t grasp how the superintendent could arrive at this decision?
Let me help. The Texas Education Code says public K-12 school districts must offer an “enrichment curriculum” that includes religious literature “including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament.” That’s exactly what the superintendent said the district was doing: Portions of the Bible are available to students in the library, and those stories may taught in certain classes. (It might make sense to teach stories from the Book of Genesis in a mythology unit!) But there’s nothing in that part of the Education Code that says the full text of the Bible must be available to all students at all times, and when Republicans pass a different law banning sexually explicit material, it’s reasonable to think the entire Bible doesn’t pass the test.
The same rules, by the way, say students must be taught about the importance of mental health and suicide prevention. If a novel that focuses on those issues includes a scene with a student exploring sex, or experimenting with their sexuality, should that book be removed from the shelves or not? Patterson seems to argue that the “sexually explicit” materials ban doesn’t apply to books that are required in the curriculum, but teachers could easily argue that there are books students ought to read (or have the option of reading, anyway) that fulfill other curricular needs!
Oh. And also, over the summer, Patterson said he would promote a bill imposing “felony charges for superintendents who expose children to sexually explicit content.”
Better for those superintendents to be safe than sorry, right?
So what we have right now is a Republican-sponsored book ban that carves out an exception for the Christian holy book… and literally nothing else.
I don’t think the Bible should be banned from school libraries. But I also don’t think other books with important elements should be banned either. That’s the difference between reasonable people and Republican zealots: We believe students should have access to books with content that might make some people uncomfortable; they want to create obstacles so students aren’t exposed to any of that unless it comes in Jesus-themed packaging. Incest and rape are perfectly fine as long as they’re surrounded by other stories about the Christian God.
"Moreover, the Bible does not contain sexually explicit content as defined by HB 900. "
Are you sure about that, Mr Patterson? Genesis 18:33-36:
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
I smell special pleading.
“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov
Indeed, ban any and all books with sexual content because teenagers never ever think about sex. The conservative approach to education in this country centers around keeping kids as ignorant as possible. Bible verses and Republican talking points should be enough in their view.