Poll: 60 Percent of Tennessee Voters Want Bible to Be State Book

A large majority of registered voters in Tennessee say that the Holy Bible should be the official state book, a recent poll finds.

In a poll taken by Vanderbilt University's Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Tennessee registered voters were asked in two different questions if they "support or oppose recognizing the Bible as the state book of Tennessee."

Here are the combined results:

• 60 percent support
• 38 percent oppose
• 2 percent don't know
• 1 percent refused to answer

The question comes after the Tennessee state legislature failed to pass a law that would have made the Bible the official book in the Volunteer State.

While it passed in the state House 55-38 in April, once it got to the Senate, the Senate majority leader sent it to a committee that is closed, essentially killing the measure.

Those legislators who opposed making the Bible the state book of Tennessee argued that the Bible is too sacred to become the "official state book." They also cited constitutional issues.

The poll was taken from April 23 through May 9 of 1,001 registered Tennessee voters, with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. Results were published Monday.

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