PA and 'The Year of the Bible'

[Tasoth]

So, as of January 23, 2012 January is the Year of the Bible.

Here is the resolution:

Declaring 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, The Bible, the word of God, has made a unique
contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and
blessed nation and people; and

WHEREAS, Deeply held religious convictions springing from the
holy scriptures led to the early settlement of our country; and

WHEREAS, Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil
government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Many of our great national leaders, among them
President Washington, President Jackson, President Lincoln,
President Wilson and President Reagan, paid tribute to the
influence of the Bible in our country's development, as
exemplified by the words of President Jackson that the Bible is
"the rock on which our Republic rests"; and

WHEREAS, The history of our country clearly illustrates the
value of voluntarily applying the teachings of the scriptures in
the lives of individuals, families and societies; and

WHEREAS, This nation now faces great challenges that will
test it as it has never been tested before; and

WHEREAS, Renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through
holy scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people
therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives declare 2012 as
the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania in recognition of both
the formative influence of the Bible on our Commonwealth and
nation and our national need to study and apply the teachings of
the holy scriptures.

Now, it would seem that Reagan and Bush SR. both proposed national bible years, but this strikes me as something that goes against the United States freedom of religion, as I this doesn't respect non-christians and most likely will not be followed by a succession of years of 'Year of the X', where X is a given faith's holy writings.

Someone else's blog post about this.

[Sea Skimmer]

Most of Pennsylvania is little different then the south; at the national political level that tends to get somewhat muted but the state house is a bunch of raving idiots. After all, we generated, and voted out, Rick Santorum and that was federal! I’m not at all surprised that nobody in the state house felt like going out of his way to stop a meaningless fundie appeasement statement like this, and nearly all of them voted for it. Voting against it would cost far more votes then voting against it would gain you in potentially mobilized non voting atheist votes, voting for it its hardly the downfall of democracy in a nation which still puts in god we trust on the currency. Also, as far as I can tell nobody pays any attention to what the PA state house does anyway until changing the liquor and beer laws come up again, as it has just recently. That’s really what it comes down too. Nobody cares if you voted for the bible, but your opponent might make it a real issue if you to actually vote against it.