Tennessee might soon change its state constitution to declare that God is the only source of liberty. Republican Rep. Micah Van Huss sponsored the bill that the House approved in 2017, which Senators will vote on this week.
Van Huss proposed that the Tennessee constitution should say: "We recognize that our liberties do not come from governments, but from Almighty God."
The bill will still need to go before the Senate's judiciary committee after the House approval, according to reports.
The Republican representative has been lobbying for the amendment for years. In a report from 2015, Van Huss said that he has been praying about it.
"As a nation, we are drifting from the morals of our founding, and I think it's important to reaffirm that our liberties do not come from the King of England," the statesman said. "They do not come from Barack Obama. They come from God."
Legal experts thought at that time that Van Huss' proposal would be rejected by the House and Senate because it was felt it could go against the First Amendment that protects Americans' civil liberties, and thus would be unconstitutional. It has been argued that because the bill underscored a Christian God, then it could marginalize other faiths, including those that do not ascribe to a religion.
But majority of Tennessee's population (81 percent) are Christians, according to a study by Pew Research, which is why Van Huss pursued the approval of the bill. This week, reports stated that the proposal has been gaining momentum on the legislative floor.
However, amendments to the constitution cannot happen right away. After a lengthy deliberation and approvals in the House and Senate, voters will still have their say in the gubernatorial elections, which will happen this November.
Van Huss stated on his official site that he's a born-again Christian who believes in the Bible. He also finished his degree in computer science at the Pensacola Christian College.
