NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There are a lot of differences between now and the last time a bill to make the Bible an official state book landed on a Tennessee governor's desk in 2016.
For one, the bill itself is different.
In 2016, lawmakers approved a bill to make the Holy Bible the official state book.
Watch me explain all of this in the player above.
The bill lawmakers approved this year includes 10 official state books, including, among others, Dolly Parton's children's book, "Coat of Many Colors," and a specific publication of the Bible from Robert Aitken: the first complete English bible printed in the United States.
NewsChannel 5 Legal Analyst Nick Leonardo said even so, a law establishing any Bible as a state book likely runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which separates church and state.
"There's a whole long line of cases out there that says you can't even respect religion over non-religion," Leonardo said.
But that leads to another difference — the makeup of the Supreme Court.
With a 6-3 majority appointed by conservative presidents, Leonardo said this bill could be an attempt to see if this Supreme Court may allow this law.
"I believe there's a consensus or thought among the conservatives that this conservative court might view things a little differently," Leonardo said.
And then there's the third difference: the governor.
In 2016, then-Gov. Bill Haslam broke with his Republican supermajority in the legislature, issuing a rare veto of the bill making the Holy Bible the official state book.
Haslam wrote about his decision in his 2021 book "Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square."
Haslam, a Christian himself, expressed concerns over the constitutionality of the bill and also wrote:
"The beauty of the idea of America is that we can all bring our most deeply held beliefs to the public square, without the government declaring one faith or no faith the winner — and without any faith or person of faith being excluded from the debate."
But will Gov. Bill Lee similarly veto the bill? That's a decision for him to make, as the bill is set to arrive on his desk.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
