This is Where I Live, Pt. 1: Infidel Book Ban Repeal Unlikely

'Infidel' book ban repeal unlikely: Move seen as political suicide
By Frank E. Lockwood
Herald-Leader (August 12, 2006)

Kentucky's century-old "infidel" books ban might be archaic and unconstitutional, but don't look for it to disappear any time soon, lawmakers said this week.

Republicans and Democrats alike predict legislators will shy away from the issue when they convene in 2007.

"Many of my colleagues are fearful of taking a vote that would tend to put them on the side of infidels," said state Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington.

Lawmakers expressed shock when they were told of the existence of the law that says "no book or other publication of a sectarian, infidel or immoral character, or that reflects on any religious denomination, shall be used or distributed in any common school."

But as news spread this week, politicians questioned the wisdom of removing it from the statutes.

"There's nobody that wants to get on record saying 'I'm against God and Christianity,'" said state Sen. David Karem, D-Louisville.

Such a vote could cost incumbents their seats and give challengers an issue to run on, he said.

"Why would a legislator want to give someone ammunition by repealing a law nobody knows is there," he said.

School districts across the state, including Fayette County, have included the book ban in their policies and procedures.

The book ban was included in the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act, but it dates to at least 1905.

The law doesn't apply to the Christian and Hebrew Scriptures. The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that the Bible is not a sectarian book.

It's not known where Gov. Ernie Fletcher stands on the issue. The Baptist minister, who has encouraged educators to teach creationism, declined to comment.

The legal definition of infidel is unclear. It may be defined as an unbeliever or as someone who rejects the majority's religious faith.

In Kentucky, the dominant faith is evangelical Christianity.

Attempts to repeal the anti-infidel ban would likely be met with vigorous opposition, some lawmakers say.

"There's a strong conservative religious tone to the Kentucky General Assembly. The legislature would be adverse to changing the statute to allow those types of publications in our schools." said state Rep. Stephen R. Nunn, R-Glasgow.

State Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington says "Democrats are scared silly (about) every moral and social issue that's come down the pike" in recent years.

The book ban is fine with him.

"It was put there for a purpose, and if one of the purposes is to keep immoral books out of the schools, then I'm all for that," he said.

But state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, says these type of laws aren't good for the state's image. "It's 2006, for heaven's sake. ... We look like a bunch of Jim-Jones-drinking-Kool-Aid kind of folks," she said. "I think it makes it look like we're not quite in the 21st century."

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