Tennessee Lawmakers Clash over Bill Making the Bible the Official State Book - East Idaho News
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Tennessee Lawmakers Clash over Bill Making the Bible the Official State Book

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Getty 041715 TheBible?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1429276027882iStock/Thinkstock(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — The Bible is not going to be the official state book of Tennessee.  At least not this year.

One day after the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a measure 55-38 declaring the Bible the official state book, the state Senate Thursday voted 22-9 to send the measure back to committee, effectively killing it, the Tennessean reports.

Republican Senator Steve Southerland supported the bill, telling fellow lawmakers, “The Bible has great historical and cultural significance in the state of Tennessee.”

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, a Republican, opposed the measure: “All I know is that I hear Satan snickering. He loves this kind of mischief. You just dumb the good book down far enough to make it whatever it takes to make it a state symbol, and you’re on your way to where he wants you.”

Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey also opposed making the Bible the official state book. “We don’t need to put the Bible besides salamanders, tulip poplars and ‘Rocky Top’ in the Tennessee Blue Book to appreciate its importance to our state.” 

The Blue Book is the official government manual of Tennessee. Salamanders, tulip poplars and “Rocky Top” are Tennessee’s state amphibian, tree and song, respectively.


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