TN House Approves Bill To Make Bible Official State Book

[dragon]

At least the Governor and State attorny general is against it so it will most likely get vetoed. But serious what the hell are these people on?

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 15 (Reuters) - Tennessee state legislators on Wednesday advanced a bill to make the Bible the official state book, a measure the state attorney general said would be unconstitutional and Republican Governor Bill Haslam has called disrespectful.

The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives voted 55-38 to approve the Bible as state book. A companion bill could be considered as soon as Thursday in the state Senate, where Republicans hold 28 seats to five for Democrats.

Representative Bud Hulsey, a Republican, told colleagues in support of the bill it is worth the fight "now more than ever."

Other Republican representatives opposed the bill, citing concerns about how Tennessee might be perceived and the cost of defending it against legal challenges.

"The controversy will not end in this chamber," Representative Martin Daniel said. "If we pass this, we're going to be ridiculed."

Representative Marc Gravitt said the attorney general's legal opinion made it clear Tennessee could spend millions of dollars in a losing effort to defend the measure if it becomes law.

Other representatives said recognizing the Bible as the state book and putting it alongside the official state tree, song or dance would trivialize it.

Representative Patsy Hazlewood, a Republican, said "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Pilgrim's Progress" are books and calling the Bible a book is in itself wrong.

The bill also has drawn criticism from religious leaders and others - including Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III - who say it violates the separation of church and state under the U.S. Constitution and Tennessee's constitution.

A spokesman has said the governor sees the bill as disrespectful of what the Bible is. (Reporting by Tim Ghianni; Editing by David Bailey and Bill Trott)

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[LadyTevar]

*FACEPALM*

[Borgholio]

Representative Patsy Hazlewood, a Republican, said "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Pilgrim's Progress" are books and calling the Bible a book is in itself wrong.

I...

I think I just lost feeling in part of my brain.

[Elheru Aran]

Eh, I heard about this a while ago (they were still debating it though, hadn't taken the step). It was bound to happen. The religious right is amping up its efforts to remain relevant in politics as they see themselves being increasingly marginalized. Taking stupid steps like this is only part of their greater plan for Christian Dominion over the United States, and by extension the world.

[Simon_Jester]

Representative Patsy Hazlewood, a Republican, said "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Pilgrim's Progress" are books and calling the Bible a book is in itself wrong.

I...

I think I just lost feeling in part of my brain.

Actually there are grounds for this.

For one, calling certain parts of the Bible a "book" is like calling the Iliad a "book;" both works include large elements of oral tradition that were not transcribed into writing until after the fact.

For another, if you actually are a Christian, the Bible may be a book in the literal sense of "a long chunk of text," but it is not just a book; it is something transcendentally more important. For such a person there is no meaningful category of similar objects that reads "To Kill a Mockingbird, Pilgrim's Progress, The Holy Bible;" the Bible is a completely different manner of thing than the other two in that frame of reference.

[Borgholio]

For another, if you actually are a Christian, the Bible may be a book in the literal sense of "a long chunk of text," but it is not just a book; it is something transcendentally more important.

That's a good point, and I find it ironic that they wouldn't want to consider it to be the official State book because they feel it is more than just a book.

[Zaune]

Point of clarification: Does conferring the status of official state book on the Bible -or on To Kill A Mockingbird for that matter- actually mean much of anything outside of making the state tourism board's job marginally harder?

[Wing Commander MAD]

No, but it could be viewed as a government endorsement of a particular religion, which is the problem.

[Mr Bean]

Point of clarification: Does conferring the status of official state book on the Bible -or on To Kill A Mockingbird for that matter- actually mean much of anything outside of making the state tourism board's job marginally harder?

It's also indirectly claiming that the Bible was written in Tennessee.

State Bird, State Food and State Mascot like State book are all about recognizing something great that THAT State had done. Technically they should have voted it down because no one from or in Tennessee did wrote the Bible.

It's why the State animal of Montana is not the Bottle nosed Dolphin, sure it's a sweet animal but there are very few of them residing in Montana.

[General Mung Beans]

Point of clarification: Does conferring the status of official state book on the Bible -or on To Kill A Mockingbird for that matter- actually mean much of anything outside of making the state tourism board's job marginally harder?

It's also indirectly claiming that the Bible was written in Tennessee.

State Bird, State Food and State Mascot like State book are all about recognizing something great that THAT State had done. Technically they should have voted it down because no one from or in Tennessee did wrote the Bible.

It's why the State animal of Montana is not the Bottle nosed Dolphin, sure it's a sweet animal but there are very few of them residing in Montana.

^This. The official State [insert noun] should be something that's unique. Of course it'd be hilarious if there was a campaign to make a state's Book the Communist Manifesto or Satanic Bible

[Themightytom]

For another, if you actually are a Christian, the Bible may be a book in the literal sense of "a long chunk of text," but it is not just a book; it is something transcendentally more important.

That's a good point, and I find it ironic that they wouldn't want to consider it to be the official State book because they feel it is more than just a book.

Well OUR state just took a shit on a class full of school children for proposing a state raptor so it's ncie that Tennessee has nothing pressing on the agenda.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morn ... tors-dont/

...and it was pretty much killed in order to make a completely unconnected statement about abortion.

[Panashe]

My state's official tree is the western hemlock, which is common to the entire west coast. Would a book have to be unique to the state in order to be the official book?

And is there anything in the state constitution about not endorsing a religion?

[Ralin]

Point of clarification: Does conferring the status of official state book on the Bible -or on To Kill A Mockingbird for that matter- actually mean much of anything outside of making the state tourism board's job marginally harder?

It's also indirectly claiming that the Bible was written in Tennessee.

Or that it's especially beloved or important to the people of Tennessee. Which hell, you could probably make a case for.

It's dumb, but honestly it's not that dumb compared to, say, passing a law stating that a given city is under the authority of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

[Napoleon the Clown]

My state's official tree is the western hemlock, which is common to the entire west coast. Would a book have to be unique to the state in order to be the official book?

And is there anything in the state constitution about not endorsing a religion?

The state constitution doesn't fucking matter if the US constitution says something already. The 14th Amendment is exceedingly clear on that matter. In this case, the US constitution is pretty clear about the government not endorsing a particular religion. This is really basic stuff that we expect 4th graders to understand, and there was even an entire war involving the matter. It's settled, Tennessee doesn't have a say in the matter.

[RogueIce]

And is there anything in the state constitution about not endorsing a religion?

Kind of.

Section 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.

So basically monotheism with "Almighty God" is a thing, though you can worship 'Him' however you want and church attendance can't be mandatory, etc.

The interesting bit is at that end, where it states, "...and that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any ... mode of worship." Because one would think that establishing the Holy Bible (which version, I wonder?) as the State Book would be considered giving preference to a mode of worship, and it's done so through a law passed by the legislature, so...

This is of course in addition to violating the US Constitution which would outrank the State Constitution anyway as Supreme Law of the Land. But they're violating their own State Constitution already so it's a moot point.