The bible to become the official book of Louisiana?

[Atomic Playboy]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

It seems pretty cut and dry that naming a religious text as an official state book could be described as making a law respecting an establishment of religion. I'm an agnostic atheist and I couldn't care less if my state made the Bible the state book (no book has had a more profound impact on Western culture over the past millennium), but it's ridiculously easy to challenge the Constitutionality of such a measure, so it's an exercise in futility. Why bother?

 

[WHAMPOM]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...e-could-become-louisianas-official-book?sc=tw

I would be completely against my state adopting any religious text as the state's official anything. What do you guys think?

OH! YA! Which Bible? There is at least eight different ones I can think of, minor differences in most but compare King James to Greek/Russian Orthodox and you will see greater divergence.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

OH! YA! Which Bible? There is at least eight different ones I can think of, minor differences in most but compare King James to Greek/Russian Orthodox and you will see greater divergence.

It had damn well better be the KJV one - that's the one that Jesus preached out of :hmm:

 

[sandorski]

It had damn well better be the KJV one - that's the one that Jesus preached out of :hmm:

Imagine how many times he had a case of Deja vu.

 

[Chaotic42]

They didn't want to be outdone by Mississippi's recent legislation.

 

[BoberFett]

I imagine there are times when some people regret not letting the south secede...

 

[cuafpr]

I'm firm a believer that separation of church and state =/= freedom from religion and I think this is to far for a state gov't..

 

[TurtleCrusher]

What do you expect from people that worship college football teams despite the vast majority of its residents barely have a high school diploma?

Religion.

You should expect religion for such simpletons.

 

[DrPizza]

Hmmm, its not forcing a state religion, yet you think the courts will strike it down on that basis? Doublethink much?

It doesn't matter whether I believe it's establishing a state religion or not. What matters is if the lawyers can make a convincing argument.

 

[werepossum]

A lot of Catholics in Louisiana. I bet this doesn't happen because they won't be able to settle on which translation.

Sssh! Probably 90% of the people don't know there are different translations.

No, I don't believe it's tantamount to forcing the entire population to worship under a state religion. What I believe is that if it passes, there will almost immediately be a lawsuit filed to have it overturned. Do you think it's free to the state to fight lawsuits? I'd bet on the lawsuit, and I'd bet that the lawsuit is successful. In other words, passing this bill would be about as smart as investing the same time and money into a perpetual motion machine. You're arguing that "well, it doesn't cost a lot" without realizing that 100% of the costs are guaranteed to result in additional costs & that 100% of the investment will be lost.

edit: I take it back. It won't be a 100% loss of investment. It's investing the taxpayer's money for reelection. "Hey ya'll, we all tried to make the Holy Bible the official book, but those heathens, the ACLU, sued our state and made us lose a lot of money. I'm with ya'll, so reelect me."

That's the great thing about government. One can do useless things with other people's money and benefit personally. Sometimes more so than if one did useful things with other people's money.

It had damn well better be the KJV one - that's the one that Jesus preached out of :hmm:

You laugh, but I've heard variants of that argument many times.

 

[MongGrel]

Bad bill. Not only is it a waste of money and time to debate and attempt to pass the legislation; it'll be 10x or greater waste when the bill is challenged in court.

I swear, these politicians act like it's a "we're holier than every other state" game; or a "look at us, G-d, we made your book an official state symbol".

Just more wasted money and stupidity more or less.

Yeah it does get a politician time to have idiots yell yaaaaaa for awhile and have a paycheck rather than doing something realistic.

95% of politics in America seem to be a big dog and pony show, rather than accomplishing anything real.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_and_pony_show

 

[sportage]

The bible to become the official book of Louisiana?

If they had actually read it they would have never make it the official anything.
All that giving to the poor, caring for the sick stuff which obviously goes against their grain.
Did this state allow the expansion of Medicare under Obamacare?
Oh don't tell me. Let me guess.

It's just so inconvenient for republicans to worship the acts of Christ, yet never actually put them into practice. Just so damn inconvenient.

 

[mrjminer]

If they had actually read it they would have never make it the official anything.
All that giving to the poor, caring for the sick stuff which obviously goes against their grain.
Did this state allow the expansion of Medicare under Obamacare?
Oh don't tell me. Let me guess.

It's just so inconvenient for republicans to worship the acts of Christ, yet never actually put them into practice. Just so damn inconvenient.

I'm not religious or a republican, but I don't think religion states that only republicans can be religious. Or that to be religious you have to be stupid and support bad ideas just because you think you're supposed to let the government do whatever they want when only some people think its a good idea.

Giving to the poor, caring for the sick.. nobody religious does that. Only people that support the expansion of medicare under Obama. I'm sure an outstanding individual supporting bad government ideas who then launches a wanton attack on both religion and an entire political party regularly gives to the poor and cares for the sick. Not to mention, doesn't even bother to vote because the people in DC are the decision makers that everyone should heed, or has always voted in-line with the winning side of the vote for everything that has ever been enacted, and to which you are subjected, from 1776 onward.

 

[thraashman]

I honestly now want some state to make the Koran the official state book and another to make The Origin of Species, then we'll see how these same people who support Louisiana's move here react. I honestly care very little, my state's bird is the Brown Thrasher, doesn't mean I have to worship it or anything. Same deal really with the Bible, it's just the fiction book they chose.

 

[OutHouse]

They didn't want to be outdone by Mississippi's recent legislation.

with your avatar, why are you not posting in the confederate flag thread?

 

[OutHouse]

If they had actually read it they would have never make it the official anything.
All that giving to the poor, caring for the sick stuff which obviously goes against their grain.
Did this state allow the expansion of Medicare under Obamacare?
Oh don't tell me. Let me guess.

It's just so inconvenient for republicans to worship the acts of Christ, yet never actually put them into practice. Just so damn inconvenient.

hummm so i guess the Obama family did not attend Easter services yesterday at a baptist church? how do you feel about Obama attending church every sunday, after all he is the leader of the Democratic party and from his past very religious.

 

[hal2kilo]

Should be the Necronomicon.

Remember:
Shop smart, Shop S-Mart!

 

[HomerJS]

hummm so i guess the Obama family did not attend Easter services yesterday at a baptist church? how do you feel about Obama attending church every sunday, after all he is the leader of the Democratic party and from his past very religious.

and St. Ronald Reagan when to church how often??

NEVER!

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Should be the Necronomicon.

Maybe Louisiana will make the Cthulhu the state marine mammal :hmm:

 

[Atreus21]

I'm not religious or a republican, but I don't think religion states that only republicans can be religious. Or that to be religious you have to be stupid and support bad ideas just because you think you're supposed to let the government do whatever they want when only some people think its a good idea.

Giving to the poor, caring for the sick.. nobody religious does that. Only people that support the expansion of medicare under Obama. I'm sure an outstanding individual supporting bad government ideas who then launches a wanton attack on both religion and an entire political party regularly gives to the poor and cares for the sick. Not to mention, doesn't even bother to vote because the people in DC are the decision makers that everyone should heed, or has always voted in-line with the winning side of the vote for everything that has ever been enacted, and to which you are subjected, from 1776 onward.

Dude.

That was awesome.

 

[Fern]

i'm not religious and -



i don't think i'd care too much. these are the sorts of junk that wind up in state promo literature - like a stack of maps you pick up at the interstate welcome center.

i'd also regard the legislators putting this forward as wasting time and money.

Pretty much this.

Fern

 

[trenchfoot]

It had damn well better be the KJV one - that's the one that Jesus preached out of :hmm:

Or the LDS version would suffice just nicely don't ya think?

 

[Chaotic42]

with your avatar, why are you not posting in the confederate flag thread?

I can only P&N in small doses.

Oh, and the avatar is for the West Florida Republic. I used to have that as my location, but people kept assuming I lived in Florida.

 

[preCRT]

Louisiana is a back ward ass state. But so is Texas and most of the other southern bible belt states. If they had it their way we wouldn't be teaching science in schools, we would be teaching the bible in school, and everyone would be dumb as rocks. So much for the separation of church and state. Old England here we come...

Those states are already filled with folks who are as dumb as a box of rocks, you need to find dumber. Could anyone imagine this type of proposal coming up in MA or NY, etc?

 

[BoberFett]

Those states are already filled with folks who are as dumb as a box of rocks, you need to find dumber. Could anyone imagine this type of proposal coming up in MA or NY, etc?

No, they're a different kind of stupid up north. Did Louisiana propose a ban on large soft drinks?