Tennessee Governor vetoes bill making bible official state book.

[47of74]

Some good news out of Tennessee today...

washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/14/tennessee-governor-vetoes-bill-making-bible-the-official-state-book/?tid=sm_fb

Quote

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have made the Bible the state’s official book.

“In addition to the constitutional issues with the bill, my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text,” Haslam (R) wrote in a letter to the speaker of the statehouse.

“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,” continued Haslam. “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.”

The controversial measure made it through the state senate earlier this month after it died in that chamber during last year’s legislative session.

Kudos to Gov. Haslam for having the courage to do this.  But yeah when your reich wing base finds out about this...

 

[Mercer]

Good. It's inappropriate for the religious text of any religion to be enshrined by the state.

On a less serious note, Tennessee school children also do not need another official state anything to memorize. We already grew up knowing the state bird (mockingbird!), state tree (tulip poplar!), state flower (iris!), state animal (racoon!), state gem (freshwater pearl!), state dance (square dance!), state horse (Tennessee Walking Horse!), state reptile (box turtle!), state amphibian (cave salamander!), state songs (there are nine of them!), etc. etc.

When my family moved to another state when I was in high school, I was so confused by what I perceived as my classmates' bizarre gaps in knowledge about where they lived. "What do you mean you don't what your state agricultural insect is?" 

[doggie]

But what about the same gun the barrette? A sniper rifle right along side the Bible.

[Mercer]

Yeah, the official state rifle of Tennessee is the Barrett M82/M107, though admittedly I did not remember that one and had to look it up.

[47of74]

53 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Good. It's inappropriate for the religious text of any religion to be enshrined by the state.

On a less serious note, Tennessee school children also do not need another official state anything to memorize. We already grew up knowing the state bird (mockingbird!), state tree (tulip poplar!), state flower (iris!), state animal (racoon!), state gem (freshwater pearl!), state dance (square dance!), state horse (Tennessee Walking Horse!), state reptile (box turtle!), state amphibian (cave salamander!), state songs (there are nine of them!), etc. etc.

When my family moved to another state when I was in high school, I was so confused by what I perceived as my classmates' bizarre gaps in knowledge about where they lived. "What do you mean you don't what your state agricultural insect is?" 

Is there an official state condom yet? 

[Mercer]

1 minute ago, 47of74 said:

Is there an official state condom yet? 

That was not addressed at my elementary school, oddly enough. 

[doggie]

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

Yeah, the official state rifle of Tennessee is the Barrett M82/M107, though admittedly I did not remember that one and had to look it up.

nothing says christianity like a sniper rife. 

[47of74]

1 hour ago, doggie said:

nothing says christianity like a sniper rife. 

WWJG?

Who would Jesus grease?

[EyeQueue]

Can we make Ted Cruz mad and have an official state dildo?

[doggie]

I think he is more of a butt pig though

 

[louisa05]

14 hours ago, Mercer said:

Good. It's inappropriate for the religious text of any religion to be enshrined by the state.

On a less serious note, Tennessee school children also do not need another official state anything to memorize. We already grew up knowing the state bird (mockingbird!), state tree (tulip poplar!), state flower (iris!), state animal (racoon!), state gem (freshwater pearl!), state dance (square dance!), state horse (Tennessee Walking Horse!), state reptile (box turtle!), state amphibian (cave salamander!), state songs (there are nine of them!), etc. etc.

When my family moved to another state when I was in high school, I was so confused by what I perceived as my classmates' bizarre gaps in knowledge about where they lived. "What do you mean you don't what your state agricultural insect is?" 

But I'm guessing that if they design a license plate using the colors of the state flag, the entire state is not going to lose its shit because they don't recognize those colors or know that the state flag is not a football team's logo. So there is that. 

(because Nebraskans are morons)

[sawasdee]

“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,” continued Haslam. “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.”

[samira_catlover]

21 hours ago, Mercer said:

Good. It's inappropriate for the religious text of any religion to be enshrined by the state.

On a less serious note, Tennessee school children also do not need another official state anything to memorize. We already grew up knowing the state bird (mockingbird!), state tree (tulip poplar!), state flower (iris!), state animal (racoon!), state gem (freshwater pearl!), state dance (square dance!), state horse (Tennessee Walking Horse!), state reptile (box turtle!), state amphibian (cave salamander!), state songs (there are nine of them!), etc. etc.

When my family moved to another state when I was in high school, I was so confused by what I perceived as my classmates' bizarre gaps in knowledge about where they lived. "What do you mean you don't what your state agricultural insect is?" 

Didn't your darned legislators have any REAL work to do?

[HighlandCow]

The State ____ thing is so strange to me. Like I get regional flowers or birds, but what happens when all the other crazy states want to have the bible or a turtle or a song or a sandwich be 'theirs'?

[Mercer]

8 minutes ago, HighlandCow said:

The State ____ thing is so strange to me. Like I get regional flowers or birds, but what happens when all the other crazy states want to have the bible or a turtle or a song or a sandwich be 'theirs'?

Fortunately there's no exclusivity involved. I'd say probably a good 75% of the states who have a state beverage (needless to say Tennessee is one of them) have that beverage being milk. So theoretically, if every state wanted to make Green Eggs and Ham their state book, they could do so without any conflict.

[HighlandCow]

5 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Fortunately there's no exclusivity involved. I'd say probably a good 75% of the states who have a state beverage (needless to say Tennessee is one of them) have that beverage being milk. So theoretically, if every state wanted to make Green Eggs and Ham their state book, they could do so without any conflict.

I just looked it up, apparently 21 out of 28 states with a 'state' beverage has milk or flavored milk as the state beverage. I mean what's the point? 

Like even the Bible being the state book would be a tourist draw in the same way that the Duggars went to the creation museum, but what's so great about milk??

[Mercer]

Something like that is just a nod to the producers of that item in the state, it doesn't really have a broader purpose.

[47of74]

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

Something like that is just a nod to the producers of that item in the state, it doesn't really have a broader purpose.

Yeah there's several large publishers and distributors that make serious coin publishing and/or distributing the bibles.

csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0405/Why-did-Tennessee-lawmakers-designate-the-Bible-as-state-s-official-book-video

Quote

“The Holy Bible is of great historical and cultural significance in the State of Tennessee as record of the history of Tennessee families that predates the modern vital [statistical] records," Sen. Southerland said in his floor speech. "It records things like births, marriages, and deaths, and printing the Bible is a multi-million dollar industry in this state, with many top Bible publishers' headquarters' in Nashville.”

Southerland isn't wrong about the Bible's importance to the state's economy. Publishing is the leading industry in Nashville, often referred to as the "buckle on the Bible Belt," employing 12,000 workers, with gross annual sales of more than $600 million, half of it in religious publications.

Nashville also is the home of the largest Bible publisher, Thomas Nelson, and the world's largest Bible distributor Gideons International. The United Methodist Publishing House, which claims to be the largest church-owned and operated publishing and printing plant in the world, is also in Nashville.

 

[roddma]

I live in Tennesse and I am proudHasslam exercised common sense. It barely passed the Geenral Assmebly .Im wondering why it was even brought up in the firts place

[louisa05]

On 4/15/2016 at 5:19 PM, Mercer said:

Fortunately there's no exclusivity involved. I'd say probably a good 75% of the states who have a state beverage (needless to say Tennessee is one of them) have that beverage being milk. So theoretically, if every state wanted to make Green Eggs and Ham their state book, they could do so without any conflict.

Nebraska's state beverage is Kool-Aid. Which is kind of cool if you know why. 

Just looked at a list of state emblems and found a bit of weirdness. We have both a state song and a state ballad. A state fossil (mammoth--which makes sense actually) and a state soil. 

 

[Mercer]

Just now, louisa05 said:

Nebraska's state beverage is Kool-Aid. Which is kind of cool if you know why. 

So... why? 

[ALM7]

On 4/15/2016 at 4:55 PM, samira_catlover said:

Didn't your darned legislators have any REAL work to do?

Oklahoma legislators do work very hard, they work on gay discrimination bills!

Just when I think my State has reached an embarrassing level of hypocrisy, we turn around and out do ourselves...

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/01/28/3743440/oklahoma-anti-lgbt-bills-record/

Quote: As expected, state legislatures are preparing dozens of anti-LGBT bills this year, some of which are part of the backlash to the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling and some of which are a response to the growing visibility of transgender people.

http://www.towleroad.com/2016/01/oklahoma-may-just-set-record-anti-lgbt-bills-ever-state/

Quote: The Oklahoma Legislature doesn’t convene until Feb. 1, but lawmakers in the Sooner State already appear to have set a record for the most anti-LGBT bills filed in a single session in any state, ever.

 

[THERetroGamerNY]

@mercer, Nebraska has a history of cults. An author up there once said that it seems like there is always a steady flow of individuals who suddenly declare that they know the "real" truth of the Bible.

Thankfully most of them die quickly before too much kool aid gets distributed. It is ironic then that the state drink is... Take a guess. lol

My cult childhood? Dead center of the state.

Do a Google and you'll get lots of hits, famous cult leaders on death row...

[Mercer]

11 minutes ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

@mercer, Nebraska has a history of cults. An author up there once said that it seems like there is always a steady flow of individuals who suddenly declare that they know the "real" truth of the Bible.

Thankfully most of them die quickly before too much kool aid gets distributed. It is ironic then that the state drink is... Take a guess. lol

My cult childhood? Dead center of the state.

Do a Google and you'll get lots of hits, famous cult leaders on death row...

Wow, that's... a lot darker than I was expecting. Thanks for the explanation!

[47of74]

We see religious cults pop up over here in Iowa from time to time as well.  We sometimes get the ones that split off from the larger Catholic Church.  I remember about eleven years ago Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission popped up here in eastern Iowa.  That caused a lot of consternation for the leadership in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin and the group wound up getting told not to be doing any of their bullshit in or around Catholic churches in the area.  There was a college student who was about to start school who suddenly disappeared and joined the group, she cut her family off from all contact.

Also I remember when the small country parish that my parents and grandparents were members of closed.  For about five years the church was in what was called oratory status where it wasn't used most of the time but was available for special occasions such as weddings and funerals.  In 1994 it was decided to deconsecrate the church and sell it off.  I do remember there was some concern as some cult figures appeared to be interested in acquiring the building.  The people who had bought the rectory five years earlier went ahead and bought the church building too and turned it into a storage shed