海角大神

The Bible Belt just got cinched a notch tighter, as聽Tennessee's legislature on Monday passed a bill to designate the Bible as the state's official book.

If Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signs SB1108, the Bible will join the mockingbird, the tulip poplar, the channel catfish, the Barrett .50 caliber rifle, and the song "My Homeland, Tennessee" as one of the Volunteer State's many official symbols.聽

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Steve Southerland, argued that the Bible plays a special role in history 鈥� both that of Tennessee and the Holy Land.

鈥淭he Holy Bible is in the State of Tennessee as record of the history of Tennessee families that predates the modern vital [statistical] records," Sen. Southerland said in his聽floor speech.聽"It records things like births, marriages, and deaths, and printing the Bible is a multi-million dollar industry in this state, with many top Bible publishers' headquarters' in Nashville.鈥�

Southerland isn't wrong about the Bible's importance to the state's economy.聽Publishing is the leading industry in Nashville, often referred to as the "buckle on the Bible Belt," employing 12,000 workers, with gross annual sales of more than $600 million, half of it in religious publications.

Nashville also is the home of the largest Bible publisher,聽, and the world's largest Bible distributor聽Gideons International.聽The聽,聽which claims to be the largest church-owned and operated publishing and printing plant in the world, is also in Nashville.

The Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union condemns the bill, calling it a聽"thinly-veiled effort to ," as well as an affront to those who practice no religion.聽

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the聽ACLU in Tennessee, says that the bill represents a response to聽increasing diversity in the state and the Supreme Court鈥檚 upholding of same-sex marriage.

鈥淭he rich and growing demographic diversity and the backlash against the equal marriage decision may be driving some legislators to put a big red stop sign up by filing bills that not only violate constitutional guarantees, but attempt to slow down progress and discriminate against individuals,鈥� she says.聽

In the past, faith-based legislative efforts have had varying degrees of success and longevity. For example, a similar attempt to make the Bible the state book in聽聽in 2014 ended with the bill being pulled by its sponsors. Texas was more successful with its efforts to pay tribute to 海角大神ity: In 2000,聽Gov. George W. Bush declared聽June 10聽to be聽. 聽

Across the United States, seven US states still officially聽.

Last month North Carolina鈥檚 Republican Governor, Pat McCrory,聽signed a religious liberty bill聽prohibiting transgender people from entering any bathroom where the symbol on the door doesn鈥檛 match their birth gender. However, blow-back from the business community could mean a shortened lifespan for that legislation.

Linda Lemmon, executive secretary to the president of the聽聽which, according to its website, has shipped 341,980 bibles to five nations so far this year, says in a telephone interview that she is pleased that the Tennessee Bible bill is headed to the governor for his signature.

聽Ms. Lemmon who has lived in the state for 65 years, says she favors the King James version of the Bible, 鈥淚 think it ought to be every state鈥檚 book, every person鈥檚 book.鈥�

Asked her opinion about those who oppose mandating one religion for the state, Ms. Lemmon responds, 鈥淭hey tend to be against 海角大神ity altogether."

鈥淲e鈥檙e in an atmosphere it鈥檚 not cool to be 海角大神,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not cool to serve your Lord. It鈥檚 not cool to mention Jesus.鈥�

Not all opposition to the bill, however, is motivated by antipathy to religion. Democratic Senator Lee Harris said during the floor speech on the bill that the 鈥渆ffort to make the Bible the state book reflects a pattern to promote one view.鈥�

鈥淢y constituents tell me they want to respect diversity of faith traditions in our state,鈥� he said in his floor speech. 鈥淥ne in five Tennesseans are not 海角大神. In Memphis alone there are 8,000 Jews. I am a 海角大神 but I do not think we should promote a bill that supports just a single religion.鈥�

Lemmon, for her part, says that, 鈥淚n America we have freedom of religion, but we don鈥檛 have freedom from religion.鈥�

Legislators brushed aside the concerns of the state attorney general that the measure conflicts with the Tennessee Constitution which states that "no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship."

Sen. Ferrell Haile (R) of Gallatin, voted against the bill saying in聽his floor speech聽that the Bible was intended to be recognized by individuals and "not as a nation, not as a state."

Senator Haile used the Roman Emperor Constantine's actions in the 4th century as an example saying that government involvement "demeans" the Bible.

鈥淚n response to your questions I would like to offer that a life lived by the Bible will have a far greater impact than a bill passed,鈥� writes the senator in an email response to being asked why he voted against the bill.

Senator Jeff Yarborough (D) of Nashville, said in his floor remarks that, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to vote against the Bible. Nobody wants to do that. When we were sworn in here we placed our hand on a Bible, but we were not swearing to uphold that text.鈥�

There has been no mention of which version of the Bible would be used and there has been no word from the governor on whether he will veto the bill. 聽