Fearing that America was one step closer to becoming a theocracy with the opening of the privately-funded Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., on Thursday and Friday, CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today hyped the supposed “controversy” swirling around the institution, even claiming that a “cloud of suspicion” hung over the building as it opened its doors.

“Coming up on CBS This Morning, I’ll tell you why this museum is generating some controversy. It’s just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol,” warned correspondent Chip Reid on Thursday. Introducing the segment minutes later, co-host Charlie Rose emphasized that the museum was largely funded by “the conservative Christian family-run company Hobby Lobby.”

Reid reinforced that concern in his report: “Some 51,000 donors contributed to the construction of the museum, but the largest and most controversial donor is Hobby Lobby, the arts and crafts chain founded by the conservative Christian Green family.” Talking to Hobby Lobby president Steve Green, Reid worried: “The U.S. Capitol is over your shoulder. Some people have said the goal here is to knock down that wall between church and state. Anything to that?”

Green dismissed the notion: “Well, no, because I think there is a separate role for the church and the state and it’s not the state’s role to espouse a faith.” It’s not clear why anyone would think a privately-funded institution on private property would in any way impact the separation between church and state.

Regardless, Reid wrapped up the story by continuing to parrot the left-wing talking point:

Some critics on the left say this museum will be full of evangelical propaganda. But some evangelicals say there’s not enough about Jesus in this museum. The people behind the museum say if they’re being criticized on the left and the right, they must be right in the middle, right where they want to be.

In a report that aired both on Thursday’s NBC Nightly News and Friday’s Today show, correspondent Anne Thompson followed Reid’s lead in sounding the alarm about the new museum: “This is the Museum of the Bible, a privately-funded monument to the good book and its impact on the world and American history. But it opens under a cloud of suspicion about its purpose and its treasures.”

Sounding nearly identical to her CBS colleague, Thompson fretted: “Just blocks from the U.S. Capitol and Smithsonian, and founded by prominent evangelical Steve Green of Hobby Lobby, some wonder if the museum wants to blur the line between church and state.” Like Reid, she grilled Green: “Why is it so close to the centers of American government and culture?”

He explained:

This is the heart of museums in our nation. Because we’re just down the street from the Capitol, and we don’t see it as a negative, we would think that it would be good for our government, those that are in charge of running this nation, to understand the founding principles that the nation was built upon.

Thompson followed up by declaring: “Some biblical scholars fear it will betray its promise not to evangelize.” A soundbite ran of Boston University School of Theology professor Jenny Knust ranting: “The message appears to be that Christians are at the center of American life and that the Christian bible has been and always will be at the very center of what it means to be American.”

Knust’s very liberal interpretation of scripture was not mentioned. On CNN’s Belief Blog, the academic claimed that the Bible did not really consider homosexuality to be a sin. In an interview with left-wing NPR host Terry Gross, Knust advised married couples not go to the Bible for guidance on their relationship.

Here are transcripts of the November 16 and 17 reports: