On Wednesday, the Tennessee House's vote fell short to make the bible its official state book following Governor Bill Haslam's veto of the measure.
The House garnered 43-50 vote, which did not give the Senate a chance to overturn Haslam's veto, according to Tennessean. The discussion lasted for almost two hours, making it one of the longest sessions in the House of Representatives. The session had four unsuccessful attempts to end the critical debate about making thebible its official state book. Some representatives cited bible references while one lawmaker mentioned ex-Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin. Last week, Haslam scrapped the measure, claiming it's unconstitutional, and it would only ostracize the holy book.
"I represent the will of the people today and I believe that it's time the legislature and the legislative body decided that we are going to take the authority that we have as legislators and start legislating," Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, the bill's sponsor said during the nearly two hour debate.
WBIR reports that Sexton finished the discussion by telling to everyone in the house that the measure is for the 65,000 people he represents, and not about any party or establishment. The bill's sponsors claimed that the measure is aimed at honoring the bible's role in the economic and historical aspect of Tennessee. For the opposition, making the bible its official state book would lower the bible's significance. They claimed the bible has a better designation than placing it alongside other states' symbols such as the official rock or reptile.
"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," Haslam said last week, UPI reported. "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."
Sexton was disappointed with the result of the vote in the House of Representatives, but claimed that at least the bill made an interesting discussion among lawmakers. Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, who sponsored the Senate version of the measure said that he's also saddened by the outcome. The bible bill was the fourth veto by Haslam since he assumed t office in 2011.
