In response to Utah’s recent restrictions on what books are available within school libraries one of the parents has pointed out that The Bible falls foul of the same restrictions. Having reviewed the evidence they have a point.
In 2022 Utah’s State legislature brought in restrictions (Bill 374) on what books could be made available in schools based on ‘decency’. Since then books that have been deemed as indecent include; To kill a Mockingbird, Out of Darkness, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Forever… by Judy Blume, and the 2015 Caldecott Honor Book, This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki. Of the fifty two books that are restricted, 21 of them feature LBGTQ+ characters and or themes. Much of this is being driven by a group calling itself ‘Utah Parents United’ who seem to want to ban everything except The Bible.
One parent has called for The Bible to be restricted under the same indency criteria. It has been pointed out that The Bible contains “Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide”. They went to say that “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.”
They are certainly not wrong. Within the first few pages we are straight into incest. First there was Adam, then Eve. Their son Cain had a son called Enoch… but who was the mother? There were only three human’s (Cain had murdered his brother Abel) on the Earth and only one was a woman. After that there is loads of incest in the good book.
- After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s two daughters conspired to inebriate and seduce their father due to the lack of available partners.
- Abraham’s brother Nahor married his niece Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran
- Abraham’s son Isaac married Rebekah, his first cousin
- Esau resorted to marrying his cousin Mahalath, daughter of his father’s brother Ishmael
There are plenty more examples.
Homosexuality
The Bible is a little thin on homosexuality. There is the notable story (Genesis 9) of Noah and his son Ham. Many interpretations and careful inspection of early texts suggest that Ham sexually assaulted his father while he was in a drunken stupor.
Rape
- Numbers 31: after the battle of.Midianite.Moses called on the soldiers “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a ma.
- Deuteronomy 20: God himself decrees rape is okay “As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder [Yahweh] your God gives you from your enemies”.
- Deuteronomy 21: “if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shaveAfter she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes.
- Judges has a brief account of the rape of a concubine.
- 2 Samuel 13: a double hit when Amnon rapes his sister Tamar. Incest as well as rape.
There are many more examples of rape in the good book.
Dildos
Yes, dildos get a mention in Ezekiel 16:17 “You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.”.
…and sometimes it gets a little, wanton…
Ezekiel 23:18-21: “When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts”.
Proverbs 5:19: “A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love”.
Solomon’s Song of Songs just goes full throttle on the sex. “Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.” (7.3). “Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.” (7.7). “My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.” (1:13). “Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.” (4:16).
Well that’s definitely cunnilingus.
And then we have: “My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.” (5:4). Not sure I’d want my children reading that filth!