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Article published Mar 19, 2003
Reese bill: Govern with Bible in hand

AARON SHEININ
The State

COLUMBIA -- Two state senators want to require Gov. Mark Sanford to follow biblical principles in running the state.
Democrats Robert Ford of Charleston and Glenn Reese of Spartanburg have introduced legislation that requires the governor to "carry out the duties of the office and the administration of state government by applying biblical principles based upon his interpretation of the Bible."
The measure is before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.
The bill, Reese said, "is a little bit tongue-in-cheek." Reese said he wants to help Sanford. Shortly after being elected in November, Sanford told 1,300 delegates to the S.C. Baptist Convention that he "would run an administration that would glorify God."
He also said "Jesus focused on the lives of his 12 disciples," and he wants to use "biblical concepts" to bring about change.
Reese, who is a Baptist, believes Sanford was "playing to the crowd and opened the door a little bit. I'm going to open it all the way."
The bill is unlikely to become law, and that's fine with Reese. "I don't care if it passes or not."
Ford said the bill was a joke.
A Sanford spokesman agreed that this bill and others introduced by Reese and Ford "are jokes."
"And people wonder why there is an effort to shorten
the legislative session," Sanford communications director Chris Drummond said. "They have more important things to do than to bog things down like this."
The Rev. Hal Lane of Westside Baptist Church in Greenwood said Sanford has the right to express his belief in God.
"We live in a land that we're supposed to have freedom of religion, and that means the freedom of expression of our religion," said Lane, who is president of the S.C. Baptist Convention. "It should be the governor's prerogative to express his faith in God. He should be able to do that without being intolerant of others."
That being said, Lane added, "I certainly think that a bill like that is not going to be headed anywhere. A governor is elected by the people to exercise the authority given to him under the Constitution. Every governor brings with him a certain moral code."
Julia Sibley Jones, associate director of the S.C. Christian Action Council, said the bill is not needed.
"We believe all people of faith have a duty to bring their perspective to all walks of life, but that's part of being faithful," Sibley Jones said. "It doesn't need to be codified."
The Rev. David Setzer at Centennial ARP Church in Columbia said Sanford can't go wrong by following biblical principles.
"I think he should, since that was his platform," Setzer said. "I would like to see him try to follow the principles of Scripture."
Setzer, however, said he isn't sure it is possible to legislate morals.
Barry Lynn, director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was more blunt.
"The bill is obviously unconstitutional," he said. "No state in America can become a theocracy, a government run along religious lines. That's what they do in Iran. That's what the Taliban did."
This not the first time Reese and Ford have filed a bill to take a poke at Sanford.
They have cosponsored legislation to require that the words "In God We Trust" be posted above the entrance to the Governor's Office and on the gate at the Governor's Mansion.
Reese alone has introduced legislation that says any lawmaker or constitutional officer who is a military reservist and does not report for active duty when called loses his office. Sanford is a member of the Air Force Reserve.
Reese is also responsible for a bill that says the governor or lieutenant governor must resign if he does not accept State Law Enforcement Division unless they have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
"The governor has been trying to get a concealed weapons permit," Drummond joked.