Last month, because Pennsylvania apparently has no major issues to tackle, its House of Representatives unanimously passed a non-binding resolution (HR 535) which declares 2012 "The Year of the Bible."
Let's take a look at this... document, shall we?
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;
First question: which version of the bible?
Second question: what "unique" contribution would that be? The bit where the founders looked to the philosophers of ancient Greece as well as the then-contemporary events of their time? The inherited distrust of theocracy that informed so many of their opinions and papers, ALL of which we still have available for study? The bit where none of the Ten Commandments were explicitly included in the Constitution? Please, Pennsylvania, DO tell us.
WHEREAS, Deeply held religious convictions springing from the holy scriptures led to the early settlement of our country;
Mainly, they risked life and limb on dangerous voyages across thousands of miles of ocean to get away from OTHER people whose "religious convictions" sprang from those same scriptures, and who felt it necessary to impose their "convictions" on others. Seriously, does the Pennsylvania House, as a body, need a remedial sixth-grade social studies class? Do you people know anything about the Penn family history?
And that's not even taking into account the fact that the future United States had already BEEN settled by nature-worshipping polytheistic peoples from Asia.
WHEREAS, Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States;
Again, which teachings would those have been? I'll file this clause under "citation needed.". Hammurabi and Plato had more influence on our "civil government" than Yahweh and Jesus.
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”;
Irrelevant. Many public servants have been religious to whatever extent, certainly some more than others, and our Presidents are no exception. Except for Jefferson. And Adams. And the other Adams. And Madison. Lastly, it seems that the PA House is just as wrong as Jackson was (although I give Jackson credit for at least accurately calling us a Republic).
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;
Oh, does it now? I could go on about this clause for hours, but I'll confine myself only to the issues of Old Testament polygamy, the stoning of virgins, child and animal sacrifice, whatever the HELL is supposed to be going on in Revelations, and of course all the things we can learn about god from his attitudes and behavior.
Golden Rule? Maybe. But I'm quite confident these people are picking and choosing just like EVERYONE does.
WHEREAS, This nation now faces great challenges that will test it as it has never been tested before;
Yup, people who aren't willing to use their sense of reason to come to reasonable compromises, like our ever-exalted Founders did, bring this line out every single election year.
WHEREAS, Renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through holy scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people;
No one looks at the Bible without interpreting, and no interpretation is infallible, despite what the pope claims. Even self-proclaimed literalists can't come to an agreement on the true meaning of many passages. Arguably the single most important story in the Bible, for these guys anyway, is the Passion of Jesus. Even THAT has gaping holes in its chronology from version to version and from gospel to gospel.
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.
Dear Pennsylvania House Of Representatives,
I don't live in your state, but if I did, I would be vocally embarrassed, angry, and disappointed. You have taken the legislative time, at your taxpayers' expense, to draft, introduce, debate, and pass this resolution. I'm sure there is a good procedural reason why a resolution such as this is "non-binding," inasmuch as you would all probably prefer, deep down, that it be mandatory.
Your unanimous contempt for all non-believers and any other people who don't think of the bible as their god's word is shameful. This resolution is shameful. There are citizens dying on your streets because their public servants have failed them, either through lack of funding or lack of caring. There are teachers and children in your schools who daily struggle to do the best they can in spite of your refusal to fund them. You yourselves get automatic pay increases every December, and have one of the best tax-funded insurance plans in the country. You regularly pander to corporate donors while refusing to increase taxes even a small amount to help cover some of the most basic infrastructure, education, and law enforcement improvements that your own experts have been begging you to enact for years.
You are an embarrassment to your State and our nation, its founders and history, and I believe you should immediately at least apologize as a body for this staggering piece of unconstitutional hypocrisy, if not retract it entirely.
I know you won't do that, because such an acknowledgement of the historically honest areligious foundations of this country would be startlingly out of character for a body that does everything it can to protect their reelection odds while simultaneously doing as little as possible to do the real backbreaking work that is incumbent upon them.
I will be printing out copies of this resolution and using them to line our cats' litterboxes. It really is the best I can do.
Very sincerely in disappointment, sadness, regret, and anger,
Bushonomics
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