FFRF (Freedom From Religion Foundation) is distributing a pamphlet called “An X Rated Book: Sex and Obscenity in the Bible” that talks about the disturbing and violent sex acts and practices described in scripture. The cover includes a lewd cartoon of a Bible with a human face sticking its hand up a protesting woman’s skirt. Yes, the image is disturbing, I don’t like it- but so is the sexual content in the Bible, which is being handed out to teens and children for them to read whether they’re mature enough to handle that kind of content or not. How can we decry this leaflet when the Bible contains horrific sex acts that children and teens are being encouraged to read? It’s a shocking tactic, yes, but I think it’s a necessary one.
Seidel said he believes the school district backed down from it position banning some of FFRF’s materials after realizing it could not legally keep FFRF from passing out materials while still allowing Bibles to be distributed.
“I think what they tried to say was basically we revisited our initial decision to censor the materials, and have reversed it. I think the reality is probably they were not allowed to do that,” he said. “They cannot approve the Bible, which is full of all the things that are in the pamphlet, and then say that our materials are somehow obscene.”
Read more and see the image here: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/brittany-m-hughes/illustration-be-handed-out-public-schools-human-bible-sexually
They can’t stop the pamphlet because it’s just reiterating what they’re already promoting and passing out in scripture. Calling it obscene would also be calling their Bible obscene. The only difference is that the leaflet highlights the sexual and violent content instead of hiding and ignoring it. But in both cases, students are introduced to the same graphic content.
“I think we recognize that it might upset some people, but the Bible upsets many, many non-believers, especially when it’s being pushed in the public schools,” Seidel said. “So really, all it’s doing is placing believers and people who are in the majority in the position that we in the minority have been in for a very long time, and are in every time the government espouses one religion over another. That’s what we feel like all the time.”
How does it feel to know that your children are being exposed to materials that you don’t feel are appropriate for a school to be promoting? Non-believers have been dealing with this for decades, and have been ostracized and bullied for daring to say anything about it. It’s about time that this practice was called out. I admit the image is a bit shocking and crass and personally I would have probably picked a different one, but on the other hand without this image it would never have attracted the media attention that it has. And sadly, change often doesn’t happen unless an injustice gets enough media attention. Sometimes you have to do legal but shocking things to point out the inequality and injustice of the system.
Perhaps in the future they will disallow BOTH publications, since both are inappropriate for children and teens to read without adult approval and guidance.
Life and Other Musings 