Eight years ago, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam vetoed a bill that would have declared the Bible our “state’s official book.” In explanation, he advised that the proposed legislation potentially violated the 1st Amendment’s separation of church and state. More personally, the devout Haslam suggested the bill “trivialized” the Bible.
Last week Haslam’s successor validated that concern when he signed legislation that placed the “Aitken Bible” atop a list of nine “official state books” that include the papers of Andrew Jackson, Alex Haley’s Roots, Shelby Foote’s narrative account of the Civil War, and Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. Along with four other books, they reflect what our legislators deem Tennessee’s “rich political and cultural history.”
Only they can explain why countless other volumes that fit that distinction were not included. And, more importantly, why their list does not “trivialize” the Bible.
Our present representatives are hardly the first Tennessee legislators to play the seemingly frivolous state symbol game. Thanks to their predecessors, we have a state tree (tulip poplar), state bird (mockingbird), and state flower (iris). And, if future legislators are inclined, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” might be added to our already long list of state songs.
Of course. Tennessee state legislators are not alone in this pursuit. In the late-1970s, I took a group of students from Albuquerque’s Menaul School to Santa Fe to observe the New Mexico state legislature in action. The highlight of the day was a failed effort to designate the biscochito NM’s “official state cookie.”
While that dismayed some of my more serious students, their legislators proved as persistent as our own. In 1989, the biscochito achieved its much-deserved lofty status. This was hardly inappropriate in a state that claims pinto beans and green chilies as official state vegetables and even has an “official state question.” “Red OR green?” asks about one’s preferred salsa when eating New Mexico’s spicy cuisine.
As one indelibly marked by twelve wonderful years in New Mexico, I recall (even if imperfectly) the lyrics of “Asi es Nuevo Mexico,” which became the state’s official Spanish language song in 1971. Its composer, Amadeo Lucero, graduated from Menaul School in the 1930s, and I taught two of his grandsons there in the 1970s. A kindly old gentleman, Amadeo generously welcomed me to his alma mater and wonderful state. The song’s captivating tune and lyrics convey New Mexico’s diverse beauties.
In general, I consider such efforts by state officials harmless. It’s fine with me that the Tennessee Cave salamander is our state’s “official amphibian.” Still, I find last week’s entry into this routine indicative of a disturbing trend that is hardly unique to Tennessee.
First, let’s address a matter that should truly puzzle Tennesseans no matter their religious persuasion — or lack thereof. Why the “Aitken Bible?” Short of an official explanation from Governor Lee and the state legislature, one suspects that this version of Christian Holy scriptures that was published during the American Revolution might be a theological equivalent to constitutional originalism.
Using original intent to interpret the US Constitution, I believe, is more reflective of the conservative preferences of its modern adherents than the complex thinking of the Constitution’s Framers. For better and worse, vague language (e.g. the “necessary and proper” provisions of the elastic clause) and such conflicting provisions as the supremacy clause and 10th Amendment assured a flexibility that has allowed our Constitution to adapt to 230+ years of change.
But let’s get back to the Bible! Might our self-styled theologians in Nashville consider the “Aitken Bible” the only acceptable translation of the Bible? Personally, that is their right. But for public officials in a diverse society that aspires to be free, that sweeping assumption is presumptuous.
Moreover, we their critics are neither as homogenous nor scripturally uninformed as they assume. Governor Haslam, who I became well-acquainted with when I taught his son and two daughters at Knoxville’s Webb School, is a man of Faith. He humbly articulates that faith in Faithful Presences that explores “the Promise and Peril of Faith in the Public Square. Anyone who dismisses the former governor as “anti-religion” (or against the best interests of Tennesseans) is guilty of the hubris that sadly defines many modern Americans.
Personally, my Faith is less traditional than Haslam’s. Still, I will not back down from my commitment to a Faith that in its best moments has identified with causes that many misinformed, present-minded believers dismiss as “liberal” and “secular.” I inherited this Faith from my devout parents. And my unlikely personal and academic journeys affirmed it. During the first quarter and second half of my 73 years, I absorbed this distinctive approach to Christianity at Kingston’s Bethel Presbyterian Church. To those who dismiss us as “the liberal church,” consider our history. For 200+ years, Bethel has been a been a place where sincere Believers of multiple persuasions have found common ground in aspiring for the lofty inclusiveness modeled by a humble Jewish teacher 2,000 years ago.
During my 18 years away from Kingston (1969 to 1987), institutions that emerged from what might best be called “Social Gospel Presbyterianism” influenced by formal and informal educations and deepened my Faith. In today’s polarized environment, this Fatih calls me to hold fast to a truly pro-Life world view on matters social, economic, cross-cultural, and environmental that contrasts with more conventional pro-life rhetoric. But the same Faith reminds me of my own shortcomings and that I should respect “others” who share the image of a loving Creator but not my heartfelt convictions.
Hopefully, glimpses offered during my 40+ years in the classroom and musings in this space reflect that Faith. If my belief that this humble take on things is much needed in our present moment in history is overly proud, I plead guilty.
Mark Banker is a retired teacher and active historian. He can be reached at mtbanker1951@gmail.com.
