Joel Ebert

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

A bill that would make the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee was given approval in a legislative committee on Tuesday.

With a 7-1 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown.

While the measure received approval in the House with a 55-38 vote last year, the effort was curtailed in the Senate, which opted to send it to committee.

Senate kills bill to make Bible official Tennessee book

Gov. Bill Haslam and Attorney General Herbert Slatery expressed opposition to the bill last year. The attorney general said the legislation violates the state and federal constitutions.

Haslam: Bible as official Tennessee book not 'respectful'

Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, hearkened back to George Washington’s inauguration in an attempt to offer support for the bill.

“He used the Bible for his swearing in,” Roberts said, adding that there were a lot religious references in the ceremony. Pointing out that the country’s first Congress had several constitutional scholars, he said, “The attitude of these people was not to keep religion out of government. It was to keep government out of religion.”

Roberts said given that fact, he had no problem supporting Southerland’s legislation.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, praised Southerland for undergoing a “great deal of soul searching and historical searching” to ensure that the legislation is not a religious statement but rather a historical one.

After being asked about concerns over the bill’s constitutionality, Southerland cited a 2005 Supreme Court case related to a display of the Ten Commandments on government facilities. With a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled that the display was constitutional.

“What we’re doing is using the Supreme Court case as the guideline to make sure it’s historical and not religious,” Southerland explained.

Although Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, said he was not supportive of the bill, citing concerns from constituents, he hoped the entire chamber would have the opportunity to debate the measure.

Senate leaders, including Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, previously expressed hesitancy to adopt the measure. When the bill was discussed last year, Ramsey said it would be fiscally irresponsible to have the state spend tax dollars to defend the legislation in court.

Tennessee's Bible bill attracted national attention last year because relatively few states have taken similar steps. Mississippi lawmakers considered a Bible bill this year but the effort died in February. Last year, officials in Louisiana took up their version of the Bible bill but it failed for lack of support.

With the judiciary committee's action, the measure heads to the calendar committee which will decide when to send the bill back the Senate floor.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee questioned the committee's decision, saying lawmakers have used their position to promote their religious beliefs.

“The rich religious diversity in our state is best respected by ensuring that government does not promote specific religious books," said Hedy Weinberg, the group's executive director. "Selecting the Bible as the state book amounts to government promotion of one religion over other religions, which clearly violates both the U.S. and Tennessee Constitutions. America is a place where people are free to practice religion, or not, without government officials deciding which beliefs should be endorsed."

The move to make the Bible the state's official book comes a month after Tennessee lawmakers approved a measure to make the Barrett M82 sniper rifle the official state rifle.

Barrett M82 sniper rifle becomes official state rifle

Reach Joel Ebert at 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.