PHOENIX — For more than 50 years, dozens of governors and hundreds of mayors across the nation have proclaimed a Bible Week each November.

The proclamations denote Thanksgiving week as a time to honor the Bible and, in some cases, to encourage people to read it.

The Arizona Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in Arizona last week, maintains the proclamations are unconstitutional and violate the principle of the separation of church and state.

If the state's proclamation is deemed unconstitutional, the ruling could cancel Bible Week proclamations across the country.

Last Friday, a U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary ruling that the proclamation is unconstitutional.

"This is distressing. It's something that's going to polarize people, and that's not what we're about. Anything that polarizes people is sad," said Thomas May, president of the National Bible Association, which organizes Bible Week.