Georgia News(Week 9) - "Holy Scripture" Law Challenged

According to a recent article, a retired librarian and a bookshop owner are challenging a Georgia state law which "grants a sales tax exemption for purchases of the Bible and other books pertaining to 'Holy Scripture.'" The lawsuit concerns not the exemption itself, but rather the fact that the tax exemption is in effect only for "better-known religions such as Christianity and Judaism." The "decades-old" law, according to the article, exempts all "religious paper," but does not define this term. A spokesperson for Gov. Sonny Perdue stated that "it appears that the question lies in the definition of Holy Scripture.'" This is an interesting case, as the law is being considered unconstitutional, as it, according to the article, "has 'the primary effect of endorsing religion in general and Judaism and Christianity in particular.'" This is new to me, as I have not previously heard of religiously-specific tax exemptions. The plaintiffs seems to have a respectable case here, however, as their arguments seem very strong and well-reasoned. If all goes as I think it will, the tax exemption will be expanded to all religious texts, including those outside of Judaism and Christianity.

Link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1105/15metholy.html