Tennessee governor has vetoed a bill passed by the legislature to make the Bible their official state book.
Governor Bill Haslam did not sign the bill proposed by the legislature to designate the Bible as its official book. He believes that the Bible contains a sacred text and making it a state book is not necessary. "In addition to the constitutional issues with the bill, my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text," Haslam wrote in a letter addressed to the speaker of the statehouse.
Supporters of the bill said that the Bible has a significant contribution to the state in terms of historical, religious and economical, according to The Washington Post. The bill states that "printing the Bible is a multimillion dollar industry for the state with many top Bible publishers headquartered in Nashville."
Republican Sen. Steve Southerland, an ordained minister and the sponsor of the bill, answered the questions whether he sees the Bible as a historical or religious book. "It's about a lot of different things," he said. "But what we're doing here is recognizing it for its historical and cultural contribution to the state of Tennessee."
According to ABC News, in the same letter Governor Haslam wrote, he stated that "If we believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, then we shouldn't be recognizing it only as a book of historical and economic significance. If we are recognizing the Bible as a sacred text, then we are violating the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee by designating it as the official state book."
Governor Haslam is not the only one who opposed the bill. In an article released by The Wall Street Journal, lawmakers of Tennessee passed the bill despite the attorney general's warning that such bill would violate the U.S. and the State's Constitution. A clause in the Tennessee's Consitution said that "No preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship." Those who opposed the bill also emphasized that making the Bible as the official state book would mean to endorse Christianity over other religions.
"Men and women motivated by faith have every right and obligation to bring their belief and commitment to the public debate," Governor Haslam said. "However that is very different from the governmental establishment of religion that our founders warned againsts and our Constituion prohibits."
Other supporter of the bill aside from Southerland is Rep. Jerry Sexton, a retired Baptist pastor. Both Sexton and Southerland are Republicans. They plan to appeal Governor Haslam's veto next week.
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