According to
The Tennessean, the Tennessee state Senate yesterday effectively killed the controversial bill, passed by the House a day earlier, that would have made the Bible the state's official book. The Senate voted 22-9 to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee for study in light of the state attorney general's opinion concluding that the bill was unconstitutional. (See
prior posting.) Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, who led the effort to send the bill back to committee, said:
All I know is that I hear Satan snickering. He loves this kind of mischief. You just dumb the good book down far enough to make it whatever it takes to make it a state symbol, and you're on your way to where he wants you.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, another critic of the bill, said:
We don't need to put the Bible beside salamanders, tulip poplars and 'Rocky Top' in the Tennessee Blue Book to appreciate its importance to our state.
[Thanks to Blog From the Capital for the lead.]
