Republican lawmaker pushes resolution to make the Bible Texas’ official state book

Republicans in Texas have not been shy about pandering to far-right white evangelicals and the Christian nationalist movement, and now, a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives is pushing a resolution to make the Bible Texas' official state book.

That Republican is Rep. Glenn Rogers, whose resolution reads, "As a prominent element in the rich fabric of our Texas heritage, the Bible is truly deserving of such acknowledgment." Rogers is an ally of Gov. Greg Abbott.

Russell Falcon, a reporter for KXAN-TV (Austin's NBC affiliate), explains, "Rogers' resolution says that Bibles have served individuals and families as record-keeping documents and in this way, become part of personal history. The short resolution doesn't outline which Bible would become the state's official book, however. Cambridge University explains (that) 11 of the most popular versions in English include the English Standard Version, The New American Standard Bible, the New International Version (NIV), and the most popular, the King James."

Falcon notes that according to Pew Research Center, 77% of Texas-based adults who consider themselves religious identify as Christian. But there are a lot of variations among Christians in the Lone Star State.

Among that 77%, 31% identify as evangelical — while 13% identify as Mainline Protestant and 23% identify as Catholic. Within Protestant Christianity, the term Mainline Protestant is used to described non-evangelical, non-fundamentalist Christians such as Lutherans, Episcopalians and Presbyterians.