The bill is sponsored by Sen. Steve Southerland, an ordained minister, and Rep. Jerry Sexton, a retired Baptist pastor. Both are Republicans from eastern Tennessee. Both are vowing to mount bids to override Haslam’s veto next week.
Whoo-eee! Who’s lookin’ to throw some good taxpayer money after bad!?! People of Tennessee, when your roads are a-crumblin’ and your schools are failin’ worse than your kids, you’ll know where to look – and it sure ain’t the Bible!
Amen…
But as compensation, the governor has banned all sales of Plato’s Republic as a way to combat thinking.
“Men and women motivated by faith in bronze age mythology have every right and obligation to bring their belief and commitment to the public debate,”
There, fify. Praise Hestia.
If the threshold to overcome a veto is the same as to pass the bill in the first place, I’m not sure the point of having the executive involved in passing laws at all.
“If we believe that the Bible is the word of God,
then we shouldn’t be recognizing it only as a book
of historical and economic significance,” Haslam said.
Considering?
Not really a bad excuse for the veto by Haslam–
for somebody trying to blow smoke up two different skirts at once.
jw1
Pretty good decision, given that “the Bible” doesn’t even refer to a specific book. “The Bible” is a name given to a number of disparate and diverse collections of writings from spurious sources.
Calling “the Bible” your state book is rather like having “the dictionary” or “the cookbook” as your state book.
Of course, you’d think people who call themselves Christians would know this…
Which version are they enshrining? There are several hundred to choose from.
it’s a good thing though that God wrote the Book in English.
exactly what I was just thinking! so, there’s basically no veto. If a bill just needs to get passed again by a simple majority, which every bill has just done in order to get to the governor anyway. That seems incredibly dumb.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.
Hmm. I guess they haven’t even read their proposed State Book.
Earlier in the session, the Legislature approved a resolution to add the .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle to the state’s official symbols like the Tennessee cave salamander, the eastern box turtle and the channel catfish — plus nine state songs, including the moonshine-themed “Rocky Top.”
Someone remind me again why fought to keep these states from seceding?
Uh oh – Bill’s in big trouble now —
True, but he also said this:
“Men and women motivated by faith have every right and obligation to bring their belief and commitment to the public debate,” he said. "However, that is very different from the governmental establishment of religion that our founders warned against and our constitution prohibits."
That’s a pretty bold statement for a Republican in TN to make, I give him credit. He also could have easily signed it and said “hey, it does not matter what I do since a simple majority can overrule my veto”. Now he is on record as vetoing it, which can be used against him in the future by the Christian right.
Hey we are talking about Tennessee here folks, incredibly dumb is actually saying people have gotten smarter… and I live in East TN.
plus nine state songs, including the moonshine-themed “Rocky Top.”
That song is fantastic. I feel so jealous when states get their name in great songs. Sweet Home Alabama, Mississippi Queen (I know - it’s the river), Taking me Home Country Road - just off the top of my head.
Remote Area Medical was originally founded to provide free medical care to isolated communities in South America. It now conducts 90% of its medical missions in the US, primarily in southern states. It’s worth noting that while the Tennessee legislature fritters away tax money on Bible bills, RAM will be holding no fewer than four free clinics in Tennessee in the coming months.
'Parently he read this somewhere: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,…
Get away from the coasts and big cities in the South and you’re in Deep Jeebusland. It’s a foreign country.
All I can do is SMH.