Will this shocking atheist pamphlet be handed out in some Florida schools?

If The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist group, gets its way, it may be handing out controversial pamphlets in several Florida public high schools depicting a lecherous human-like Bible sexually assaulting a young woman.

The pamphlet is entitled: An X-Rated Book: Sex and Obscenity in the Bible," and its cover features a cartoon illustration of a humanized Bible with a face, arms, and legs, reaching under the dress of a screaming woman who is trying to escape.

The FFRF's plans to distribute that and other atheist pamphlets at some Orange County high schools is at the center of a controversial dispute that has pitted school officials promoting appropriate environments for students against the atheist group asserting its First Amendment rights.

The pamphlet includes Biblical passages mentioning sex, nudity and circumcision, excerpts that the FFRF deems "obscene" and is including in its pamphlet to make a point that the Bible also contains explicit material.

I think if you look at the content of that brochure and what is actually in the Bible, and some of the things that are in the Bible in terms of sex and compare that to the cover [of the pamphlet], the cover is pretty tame compared to anything that is in the Bible, FFRF Legal Counsel Andrew Seidel told CNS News. I think the bottom line is, you cant consider any of our materials obscene when compared to the Bible, he said.

On National Religious Freedom Day, which is Jan. 16, the Orange County Public Schools have allowed outside religious groups to passively distribute approved literature, like Bibles, for students to take should they choose. According to reports, FFRF plans to distribute "An X-Rated Book" and other pamphlets in 11 public high schools in Orange County, Florida, next year.

According to a news release posted on its website, the FFRF also plans to distribute other previously banned pamphlets that discuss what the Bible says about abortion and which, according to the school district, assert that God is hateful, arrogant, sexist and cruel." It also plans to make available for students Robert Prices Jesus Is Dead, which the district banned earlier because [t]he claim that Jesus was not crucified or resurrected is age-inappropriate for the maturity levels of many of the students in high school.

Will An X-Rated Book: Sex and Obscenity in the Bible," and other similar titles be available for students in Orange County public high schools this January?

"No, no, no, that's a long way away," says Katherine Marsh, communications director for OCPS. "[The media] have perpetuated this terrible rumor that Satanists are coming in." She added, "It is incorrect to say that at this time this organization has asked for and received clearance to hand out this pamphlet in Orange County Public Schools."

Here's the back story: In 2013, the school district began allowing World Changers of Florida, a Christian group, to distribute Bibles at some of its public high schools on Freedom of Religion Day, according to CNS News. In response, the FFRF announced a plan to begin passing out packets of atheist literature, including An X-Rated Book, to some Orange County public high schools later that year. The atheist group submitted its materials to the Orange County school board for review, as per district rules, and the board banned about half of the literature the group planned to distribute, saying it was inappropriate.

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Will this shocking atheist pamphlet be handed out in some Florida schools?