Louisiana lawmakers say the Bible ought to be named as the state’s official book, and they’re pressing forward with a bill, despite the looming threat of a lawsuit.
A House municipal committee voted in favor of the bill this week, 8-5, and now it heads to the floor for debate, The Associated Press reported.
“It’s not to the exclusion of anyone else’s sacred literature,” said bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Thomas Carmody, in the AP report. “This is not about establishing an official religion of the state of Louisiana.”
But other lawmakers who voted against it say the bill does just that, and it could land the state in trouble with the courts, they say.
“I think we’re going to open ourselves up to a lawsuit,” said Rep. Wesley Bishop, a Democrat who is also a preacher’s son and a lawyer, AP reported. “You can’t adopt the Bible and not adopt Christianity.”
But Mr. Carmody said that’s not true — that just because the Bible would be the official book of the state doesn’t mean residents have to embrace it as their own.
“It’s not meant to be offensive,” Mr. Carmody said. “There’s no requirement that [residents] would have to follow this particular text.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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