Arkansas Legislators Don't Like Thomas Paine's Views On Religion

The Arkansas House of Representatives last Thursday dealt a surprising defeat to a bill designating January 29 as "Thomas Paine Day" (HB 1317). Today's Associated Press reports that Democratic Rep. Lindsley Smith had wanted Arkansas to join nine other states that honor the Revolutionary War figure. However, Republican Rep. Sid Rosenbaum raised questions. Quoting from Paine's book, The Age of Reason, Rosenbaum said: "He did some good things for the nation, but the book that he wrote was anti-Christian and anti-Jewish. I don’t think we should be passing things out like this without at least debating it and letting people in the House know what we're voting on." Thursday's vote was 46-20, but the bill needed 51 votes to pass.