Is It Constitutional for the Bible to Be Mississippi's State Book?
For the second consecutive year, a Mississippi lawmaker has introduced a bill to make the Bible the official state book, even though a similar bill failed to pass last year.
Known as House Bill 840 and introduced by Democratic Representative Tom Miles, the proposed legislation was referred to the Rules and Constitution committees earlier this month.
In an interview with local media, Miles argued that the bill should not be considered controversial given the legislature voted a couple years ago to add "In God We Trust" to the state seal.
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"We're not requiring anyone to go out and buy the Bible. We're not requiring anyone to read the Bible," said Miles. "We're not forcing them to pass a test about the Bible. It's symbolic in nature, just like the state bird, the state flower."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, however, argues that HB 840 goes against the separation of church and state.
Zakiya Summers-Harlee, director of communications for the ACLU of Mississippi, told The Christian Post that the group believes HB 840 "violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as it promotes one religion over the others."
"It fails to recognize the diversity of Mississippi residents. Lawmakers should not be promoting policies that divide Mississippians along religious lines," said Summers-Harlee, who noted that a similar bill introduced last year died at the committee level.
"We hope, just as its predecessor, that it will die in committee. ACLU of Mississippi will continue to track this bill, and challenge any policies that do not provide protection of religious freedom."
While Miles did not return comment to CP by press time, on his Facebook page the legislator noted "Feb. 23 is the deadline for passing measures out of committee."
During an interview with CP back in January 2015 about the bill Miles sponsored last session along with two of his colleagues to make the Bible the official state book, Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, said he doesn't believe that establishing the Bible as the state book of Mississippi is a smart idea, no matter what percentage of the state claims to hold Christian faith.
"I am sure that they are well-meaning people who want to emphasize and want to underscore the role Judeo-Christian beliefs have played in American culture and the Mississippi culture, but this is a clumsy way of doing it and it is probably a bit too far," Land, who is also The Christian Post's executive editor, asserted. "The state is supposed to be neutral when it comes to religion. I think it could be argued that for the state to officially declare one religion's Holy Scripture to be the official book of the state would be putting the state on the side or giving preference to one faith over other faiths. I think that is probably unconstitutional."
Land adds that from a Christian perspective, designating the Bible as the state's book would mean that the state would have to concede that the book is just historical text, and nothing more, which would conflict with Christian beliefs that the Bible is way more than just a book.
"For those who are Christians, one can't be neutral about the Bible. The Bible, for many Americans, is sacred text," Land asserted. "It is the Holy Scripture. If you try to approach it as just a historical book. That is not neutral. To me, that [degrades] the status of Scripture."
And because not all of Mississippi's religious population is Christian, Land explained that if the Bible is to become the state's book, many Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics and other religious minorities would be seriously offended.
"It seems to me that if the state of Mississippi is declaring the Bible to be the official book of the state, how would that make people who our Jewish feel? How would people who are Muslim fee? How would it make people who are atheists and agnostics feel?" Land asked.
