House Bill 503 was filed in Louisiana this session by state Representative Thomas Carmody (R-La.), reports KTBS. The bill proposes making La.'s oldest state-owned Bible the official state book.
Randy Dill of Shreveport, La., came up with the idea in 1988, but had failed to find a lawmaker willing to back his proposal until now.
"The Bible was their main inspiration along with our forefathers--Washington and all of them," Dill told KTBS. "They looked to it for their inspiration for our country. They called upon God to help us."
The proposal cites the state's pledge of allegiance as support for making the Bible the state book. The pledge reads, "A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals, confident that justice shall prevail for all of those abiding here."
B. There shall be an official state book. The official state book shall be the
12 Holy Bible, published by Johannes Prevel, (Prevel, Jean, active 1510-1528, printer.
13 & Petit, Jean, fl. 1492-1530.), which is the oldest edition of the Holy Bible in the
14 Louisiana State Museum system.
Dill and Carmody told KTBS that they expect to face opposition, but are hopeful that the bill can be pushed through because the state of Alabama has a bible as its state book.
Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist blog commented, "The state symbols are supposed to represent the culture of the state, something that can be shared by all of its residents. The Bible simply doesn’t belong in any collection meant for everyone."
Shreveport was ranked as America's 5th most "bible-minded" city by the American Bible Society in 2014.
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