Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Bible too lewd for Date: Sun, 8 Nov 92 15:50:37 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD Bible too lewd for class? \SH Atheist says ban the 'bad' book \BY Nancy E. Roman \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The Bible is obscene and should be removed from all Brooklyn Center, Minn., schools, according to a complaint to be reviewed by the city's school board tomorrow. Gene Kasmar, a 55-year-old self-described atheist, filed a complaint charging Bible references to explicit sex, homosexuality, wine consumption, nakedness, cannibalism, misogyny and incest make it unfit for schools. He backs his charges with 46 pages of "scriptural evidence," including Old Testament references to concubines, war and wine. "These passages reflect the most depraved incest, human sacrifice, horrendous murders and slavery," he said. "The lewd, indecent and violent content of that book are hardly suitable for young students." Dennis Morrow, assistant superintendent for Brooklyn Center schools, said at first the complaint was dismissed as frivolous or as a tongue-in-cheek criticism of increasingly prevalent efforts to censor school libraries. "But he is serious," he said. "What he objects to in the Bible certainly is poor behavior. The Bible does have stories of murder and rape and poor choices that affect not only themselves but other people. What Mr. Kasmar fails adequately to consider is the larger message of the Bible." Jay Sekulow, chief counsel to the American Center for Law and Justice who will represent the school administration before the school board, said banning the Bible from schools would violate the First Amendment right to free speech. "This is a classic case of content-based censorship," he said. "If the schools are supposed to be this marketplace for ideas, then the Bible has got to be among them. District courts have held that a Bible in the school library is not only appropriate but necessary for a well-rounded education." Mr. Sekulow said he heard "rumblings" that Mr. Kasmar is fronting for an atheist group that would like the case challenged in court. "Before he can file in court, he must exhaust all legal remedies," he said. Mr. Kasmar said he belongs to several atheist and humanist groups, but that none supports his complaint. He was inspired instead by the increasing number of censorship attempts nationwide. He noted some 360 attempts to censor books this year, including J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" and Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The first has been banned for obscenity; the latter because of racial slurs. "We are not talking about religion, we are talking about a naughty book," Mr. Kasmar said. Mr. Morrow has submitted a two-page response to the school board arguing that the Bible's portrayal of "poor human decisions and rather archaic social practices," are outweighed by the book's historical and literary value. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM