Just when God thought he might get a break in the state of Tennessee, legislators are back to determine how they might trivialize the Creator and his inspired word.
After Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed a bill in 2016 that would have made the Holy Bible the official state book, and legislators failed to override his veto, discussion has returned about whether to introduce the bill again this year.
Legislators, please: Read the Bible, study it, recommend it, use its wisdom, ponder its truths, pattern your life on its New Testament savior. But do not inscribe it in a state manual beside the Tennessee state rifle and the Tennessee state fossil.
Continued attempts to do so conjure images of the words of Jesus to the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 15.
"You hypocrites!" he said. "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'"
The senator who sponsored the bill in the last session says he won't introduce it, and two new members of the House say they won't vote for it, so we hope the Bible will remain a part of all those who choose to understand and honor its ancient truths but not a legislative hot potato.
In the meantime, a bill already has been filed in the state House to have all of the state's license plates be redesigned to add the words "In God We Trust." The idea is that as drivers renew their registration or new cars are purchased, the new tags would be issued.
Now, we're all for new tags. We've always felt the green mountains on the 11-year-old standard tag were too vague and colorless and, despite what is supposed to imply Smoky Mountains symbolism, smoke appears to be rising from the "cigarette" of the county designation imprint.
But we also believe "In God We Trust" once again invites needless criticism. Those of us who trust in God don't need a license plate to remind us, and those who don't aren't likely to have their minds changed by license plate words on the Ford F-150 pickup with the Confederate flag on the window in front of them.
We aren't suggesting the words be removed from our currency or from any buildings where they've been for decades but that we not poke our increasingly diverse neighbors by putting them on our license tags.
It's true that several southern states and a few others around the country offer the words on their plates, but Tennessee doesn't have to go along with the crowd. Indeed, it should continue to be the unique, non-cookie-cutter state it is, where Volunteer State residents naturally feel free to worship as they choose and are not bombarded by words that purport to tell them how to do so - and while they're in traffic.