Bill to make Bible state book advances

Linky

A proposal to make the Bible the official state book of Tennessee is advancing in the state House despite constitutional questions raised by the state attorney general’s office.

The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Jerry Sexton of Bean Station was advanced on a 2-1 vote by the State Government Subcommittee on Wednesday.

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What is it with these people being so damned pushy?

Yes! Go Indiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas, go! Force those godless heathens to live the way you want them to!

I think it's so funny this batshit crazy nutty as a loon right wingers like to hold up the Constitution as their source of authority yet their the first offenders of it.

who cares

I wonder which translation they will go with?

Or whether or not people who are trying to move this forward have actually read the Bible.

If no one cares, why spend the time, money, and energy to push it through legislature?

@foxhound_fox: going by the typical Sunday Christians in the GOP, no, they have never read the bible.

Let me rephrase that.

Normal people shouldn't care.

Why do states have "official books"? lol

Especially Tennessee :-P

My apologies to any TN residents. I just couldn't resist the joke.

Why does Tennessee have not one but two official state fish? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Agreed. And yet, here we are with a major political party using this bill and others like it to appease their base.

I see. So Tennessee is special.

Have no problem with it

Or birds....or flowers...etc.

Amen.

Tennessee is really one of the least interesting places I can think of.

Religion is a sickening poison to humanity. Sad to see these bible bangers are doing this kind of garbage. Don't worry about the other 60% or more that don't celebrate the corporate entity we call the church.

That's fine, that's like a state having a state tree or bird

Most of the US is, tbh. Besides NY, the west coast, and Disney World the rest is boring.

Indeed, that's why I said one of.

Why not the Silmarillion?

Yeah, that's going to wind up being struck down by the Supreme Court if it somehow gets signed into law. It's infuriating how these politicians talk up the Constitution and then put forth legislation that clearly violates it.

Why even bother? Some judge will over turn it, or some group like the ACLU will sue to have it changed.

Hmm.... until Tennessee forces you to read the bible, I just see it as another meaningless state symbol. *shrugs*

I'd bet these people have read neither the Bible nor the Constitution.

What a waste of fucking time and money. The social conservatives in this country are a disease.

typical conservative politics.

they hate the gay and sharia law then spend all their time blowing strangers in public restrooms and trying to establish a christian caliphate.

West Coast, **** yeah!

So for someone outside of US, If it is the "official book" does that really matter or is it kind of like "The Eagle is the offical animal of the USA" and that's about it?

Is everybody in the state then required to read their offical book on a daily basis?

We should start making official state dumbasses

Republicans never seem to do anything that actually helps people.

It usually seems like they just go after the votes of dumb people.

There are far worse state books that they could adopt for the state book. The Bible is the highest selling piece of literature of all time. Not to mention it was pivotal in the development of western society. It's a pretty important piece of text and if they want it as their state book who cares, it doesn't do anything other than being called the state text.

Ummmm, I don't see the problem. nobody has to really read the book its just a label. I live in Texas and I don't know what my state bird is. If we have a state song I don't know it. Who really cares?

additionally the Bible is a great piece of literature. Its the greatest selling book in human history. There's a lot you can learn from it even if you are not a believer in Judaism or Christianity. It has great stories and metaphors. The main problem would be which version they're going to use. I am sure we are not going to be in school teaching the Bible as a piece of religious doctrine.

How can this be seen anything other than an underhanded way of declaring a state religion? People should care about this, based on this concern and the fact we are wasting tax dollars on this when actual important things are ignored. Like the fact our infrastructure is crumbling all around us.

@SubZerOo: I don't see this as important at all. Mississippi and Alabama both have distinct references to the Confederate battle flag in their state flags. Does that mean that everyone in those states is a racist or believes that the south will rise again?

I think at least a few have (maybe not completely though) and have poor reading comprehension skills to see the clear contradictions from the bible but still believe the book should be taken seriously anyway.

lol I know right? It's basically a bible of Middle Earth and people don't pretend it's real.

i had some new neighbors move into the neighborhood and i liked them and all but they were so stereotypically tennessee that it hurt to have a conversation with them.

one day they were going on about the earth being 6,000 years old and i used my shoe to scuff up a 55 million year old brachiopod fossil in their own backyard and literally right under our feet and showed it to them and then it was all about how the noah flood put it there.

a perfect example of nice people that have absolutely been ruined by stupid bullshit.

And Ilúvatar seems like a nicer dude than God :P

My Young Earth Creationist friends are some of my favorites. Discussions between my other friends are fun and all, but when they join the rest of us Christians, Jews, Atheists, Agnostics, etc, then it's a party.

I still enjoy reading the Ken Hamm children's book about dinosaurs I was given by a YEC.

you mean this? I remember it quite well.

@Storm_Marine said:

@mattbbpl said:

I still enjoy reading the Ken Hamm children's book about dinosaurs I was given by a YEC.

you mean this? I remember it quite well.

Nah, this one:

It's... amazing. Like, "all animals, including T-Rex's, ate only plants until Adam and Eve ate an apple," amazing.

Which bible are they making the "official" book? There's more than one version depending on which kind of christian you happen to be. I prefer the revised scratch and sniff version myself, you can really smell the loaves and fishes.