In 2015, lawmakers in my home state of Tennessee passed legislation to designate the Holy Bible as the official state book. The bill passed with a jumbled mix of bipartisan support and opposition. Then-Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican and evangelical Presbyterian, issued a politically courageous veto.

“Our founders recognized that when the church and state were combined, it was the church that suffered in the long run,” Haslam reasoned at the time, while also cautioning against “those who are trying to drive religion out of the public square.”