OK, Alabamians, let's say it once more with gusto: Thank God for Mississippi. Thank God for the sister state that almost always looks worse than Alabama when it comes to literacy, overweight people, education, poverty, politics and other measurements of success.

True to form, the Magnolia State has saved us again, this time with a proposal in the Mississippi Legislature to designate the Bible as the "state book." Pundits and news outlets around the country, thank God, are mocking Mississippi and not Alabama.

It's not that people elsewhere in America don't believe in God. Nor is it because they don't respect the Bible as one of the world's most important spiritual and literary resources. I certainly do, on both counts.

It's because they understand what's really going on here. And what's going on is politicians pandering for the votes of a gullible populace.

Instead of simply working to pass laws, fund government services and in general provide what's needed to run the state, lawmakers are vying to show how religious they are. If you don't think so, I've got a bridge in New York City that I'd love to sell you.

Listen to the words of Mississippi Rep. Michael Evans, a Democrat from District 43, who was quoted as saying he introduced a bill to designate it the state book because the Bible could help cure "all the things going wrong in the world." He added, "Me and my constituents, we were talking about it and one of them made a comment that people ought to start reading the Bible."

Translation: My constituents think people should read the Bible more, so if I introduce a bill to have it designated the state book, they'll think I hung the moon.

Louisiana lawmakers considered a similar proposal last year, but finally abandoned the idea. Alabama legislators haven't tried, and with a little luck, they won't.

Why should they? Politicians jockeying to designate the Bible as the state book trivializes and politicizes a book that has inspired millions of people over thousands of years with its stories, parables, words of wisdom and tales of heroic men and women. From the saga of the Israelites escaping from Egypt and eventually settling in the Promised Land, to the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and the stirring letters of St. Paul, it's cherished around the globe.

Lumping it with state birds, flowers, songs and assorted other symbols is just silly -- and at least a little offensive. Lord knows the Lord doesn't need state legislatures sanctioning His inspired Word; and believers can and will read their Bibles with or without politicians' blessing.

It's insulting for people who raise money for their campaign coffers, horse-trade for votes with their legislative colleagues and feed on partisan politics to treat the Bible like it's just another self-serving item on their agendas.

Instead of nodding their heads approvingly, Mississippians should call the proposal what it is - political tomfoolery - and tell their legislators to drop the idea.

Otherwise, it'll work its way through the House and Senate, and no governor is going to veto such a measure, no matter how cynical it is. Then, once it becomes law, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates of strict secularism will pounce on Mississippi and drag it through one or more expensive and pointless lawsuits.

Challenging public displays and assertions of faith is what they live for.

Why wave a red flag at a bull? Just for the fun of antagonizing it? Just so you can say to the voters, I got the state to sanction our religious views, but these godless heathens have managed to thwart us again?

There's a reason the Bible is revered around the globe. It contains some of the most beautiful passages ever written. I thank God for inspiring it.

And in the meantime, once again, on behalf of my fellow Alabamians, I also thank God for Mississippi.

Frances Coleman is a freelance writer who lives in Baldwin County. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and "like" her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances.