Tennessee Lawmakers Smooch Bible; Kick US Constitution

It's not terribly surprising that Tennessee lawmakers hold the Christian Bible in higher esteem than the very Constitution that governs their own state and country. HB0615, proposed by Tennessee's Republican State Legislature, designates the Bible as the official state book.

The Volunteer State’s legislature overwhelmingly approved a bill on Monday that would name the Bible as the state book and sent it to Gov. Bill Haslam. It is not yet known if the two-term Republican will veto the bill, though his attorney general has said it would violate the separation of church and state.

There's always an ulterior motive for this sort of legislation.

In solidly Republican Tennessee, heavy doses of God and guns are considered reliable election-year politics.The Bible bill came to a vote just days before the candidate filing deadline, giving lawmakers pause about being portrayed by political rivals as being as opposed to the Bible if they voted against the bill.

Republican bill sponsor Steve Southerland said that the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) would defend his state’s measure against likely legal challenges, according to the Tennessean.

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