Vinson: The Bible as state book
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:51 pm By MIKE VINSON Wednesday/April 16, I visited with some friends at a place of business in Murfreesboro. And the subjects discussed ran the whole gamut of society. "I say Hillary Clinton will be the next president, especially with husband Bill in her corner," voiced one. "Now Rubio [Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida] might have a chance at running for vice-president, but he's not politically seasoned enough to qualify as presidential material yet." "Hillary's carrying way too much baggage," countered another man. "The media and her opponents are going to hammer her on the Benghazi cover-up, and, also, she has that e-mail mess going against her." Then, cigar in mouth, standing up, with feverish passion, as though delivering a sermon, yet a third man piped in: "What worries me is our country is trillions of dollars in debt, but our state legislators are spending their time pacing the floor at the Capitol arguing about whether to make the Bible the official book for the state of Tennessee!" Though I was aware of the controversy surrounding the Bible possibly becoming the official book of Tennessee, what the man smoking the cigar said, for some reason, hit me with greater impact than anything I had previously heard or read. That said, since we dwell in the "Bible-Belt," it makes perfect sense for us to discuss the Bible possibly becoming Tennessee's "official book." A short history: Regardless of how House Bill/HB 615 ultimately turns out - the Holy Bible becomes the official book of Tennessee, or the Holy Bible doesn't become the official book of Tennessee - it will cut a wide swath of political division in our Volunteer State, one that very well could have repercussions for generations to come. Concerning the Bible possibly becoming the state book, I'm gonna throw out a few questions to you: *How will Muslims living in Tennessee react if the Bible is made the state's official book? *Though you might not agree with them, what about "atheists," those who disavow the existence of a Deity, and "agnostics," those who aren't sure, one way or the other, about the existence of a Deity? When I returned to McMinnville that day (same day I'd socialized with the fellows in Murfreesboro), an older man, a farmer, commented: "By George, if they can make Jack Daniel's whiskey our state drink, then they ought to be able to make the Bible the state book!" Humor aside, I must ask: If the Bible is voted to be the official book of Tennessee, what will it actually accomplish?
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