A Kentucky state Senate committee has approved legislation allowing the Bible to be studied as a literary subject in public schools, a move that means the state will likely follow Tennessee, Texas and a handful of others in bringing the Christian text into the curriculum.

The bill, put forward by three Democratic state senators, orders the Kentucky Board of Education to draw up guidelines for teaching the Bible as a literary work in the context of “literature, art, music, mores, oratory and public policy,” reports the  Louisville Courier-Journal. The Bible courses would be elective.

The bill passed the committee 12-0, and is expected to sail smoothly through the legislature. “It’s the kind of legislation that most Kentucky lawmakers dare not vote against, especially in an election year,” reports the Associated Press.

In praising the legislation, state Sen. Elizabeth Tori told the bill’s sponsors that “an angel was sent down on your shoulders” prompting “you to put this bill together,” as quoted at the Courier-Journal.

Read more at: Panel approves Bible classes for public schools (The Raw Story)