Arizona Republic

U.S. court puts halt to Bible Week

By Richard Ruelas
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 21, 1998

A federal judge Friday canceled Bible Week in
Arizona, saying the governor's proclamation had
enough religious overtones to make it
unconstitutional.

Gov. Jane Hull, through a spokeswoman, vowed to
fight the preliminary injunction against her Bible
Week decree.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver did not order
Hull to rescind her Nov. 5 recognition of Bible
Week. But her temporary finding that it is
unconstitutional has the effect of voiding it.

The Arizona Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of
three citizens, sued the state on Thursday saying
the decree violated both the U.S. and Arizona
constitutions. It asked for the hearing Friday so
the judge could rule before Bible Week was
scheduled to begin on Sunday.

On Monday, the ACLU won a temporary injunction
against Gilbert preventing the city from declaring
the week. Silver issued that order as well.

"This is never an easy question," Silver said
Friday, "determining the parameters of
establishment (of religion) because it's
constantly in tension with the freedom of
expression of religion."

The date for the permanent injunction hearing was
not set Friday.

"We are glad to get a hearing because we will
fight the ruling," said Francie Noyes, spokeswoman
for Hull.

The hearing for Gilbert's injunction is set for
Dec. 11.

Also Friday, Tucson's mayor said he would rescind
his Bible Week proclamation after the ACLU
threatened to slap that city with a similar suit.

The ACLU has informally challenged Bible Week
proclamations by other cities and states in years
past, but Arizona's twin actions mark the first
time the decree has been challenged in court.

Friday's ruling marked the first time a declared
Bible Week was voided by court action.

The state's proclamation called the Bible "the
foundational document of the Judeo-Christian
principles upon which our nation was
conceived,"and "a constant course of moral and
spiritual guidance for Americans." It says
National Bible Week has "helped to strengthen
spiritual understanding throughout our nation by
encouraging personal reading of the Bible."

The wording was provided by the New York-based
National Bible Association, which every year
requests every governor and every mayor to
proclaim the week.

The National Bible Association has declared Bible
Week every year since 1941.

The state argued that its proclamation recognized
the Bible as only a cultural and historical
document, not primarily as a religious book.

"(Bible Week) offers a significant secular
purpose," said Elizabeth Teply, assistant attorney
general. "That purpose is reading the Bible for
any reason."

That brought a strong rebuttal from Steven
Montoya, arguing for the ACLU.

"That is to really trivialize the Bible," he said.
"To say the Bible has nothing to do with religion
is like saying the Constitution has nothing to do
with civil rights."

Teply said the state also questioned the harm done
by the proclamation.

She said the original document was sent back to
the New York-based National Bible Association,
which requested the proclamation from Arizona and
every other state. She said that no activities
were planned and that citizens were free to ignore
the proclamation.

"It does not require any citizen to do anything.
It does not stop any citizen from doing anything,"
she argued.

Montoya said that his clients can still have their
civil rights violated, even if the proclamation is
not pushed on them.

"That doesn't mean (the state) can get away from
doing illegal things undercover or behind closed
doors," he said.

Despite the controversy, the National Bible
Association said Friday that it will continue to
ask states, cities and towns to proclaim Bible
Week.

"I can't imagine we would all be upset because of
one incident in Arizona," said Tom May, the
association president.

May said the group asks government to proclaim
Bible Week so it can garner publicity.

As of Friday, 26 states and more than 400 cities
had proclaimed Bible Week.

But some of those cities had no idea they honored
the week.

"Really?" said Nadia Wiggins, spokeswoman for Las
Vegas, before she checked and confirmed that Bible
Week was decreed in Sin City. "I've never heard of
it."

"Let me double-check that," said a woman in the
Lodi, Calif., clerk's office who didn't want her
name used. She said a proclamation was issued in
October, but that there was no hubbub about it.

In the space alien-loving city of Roswell, N.M.,
the Bible Week issue also has not been a point of
controversy, said a secretary in Mayor Bill Owen's
office who didn't want her name used.

May said some local newspapers will note the
proclamation as it is passed by city councils.

A search of the nation's major newspapers found
little mention of the Bible Week proclamations in
this or other recent years.

The only newspaper story found about Bible Week
was in the Neighbor section of the Chicago Daily
Herald, which noted that the village council in
Palatine, Ill., had passed the proclamation.

May acknowledged that the government proclamations
do little to get the word out about Bible Week.

Richard Ruelas can be reached at (602) 444-8473 or
at richard.ruelas@pni.com via e-mail.