Hundreds of objections to the Bible have been lodged with Hong Kong’s decency watchdog after a Chinese-language website said the Christian holy book is full of stories containing violence and illicit sex.

The complaints were sparked after the Chinese language website - www.truthbible.net - attempted to put pressure on the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority [TELA] to classify the Bible as indecent, the South China Morning Post said.

The agency confirmed it had received about 210 complaints about the Bible, compared with about 80 against a university students' newspaper, which ran a series of sex columns the authority decided earlier this week were indecent.

On the website is a form letter which people can send to the authority to complain about the Bible.

TELA has not said whether it will consider the complaints.  Publications with scientific, literary, artistic, or academic content are exempt from obscenity laws.

If the allegations are upheld, sales of the Bible would be restricted to those 18 and over.  Also, it would have to be sold in a sealed package displaying a warning label.

h/t: Religion News Blog

UPDATE (18 May): In a victory for common sense, TELA has stated that it will not reclassify the Bible as indecent.

The Bible "had not violated standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members of the community", TELA said in a statement.

Those who claim the Bible is obscene would not qualify as "reasonable members of the community".  Ouch!