Oh thank goodness, IT WAS ABOUT TIME: Pennsylvania lawmakers unanimously approved a resolution declaring 2012 the "Year of the Bible" in their state, to publicly recognize some of the important famous people in American history who have owned Bibles and talked about Bibles -- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and of course possibly most famously and importantly of all, Ronald Reagan. OH and, also, to recognize "our national need to study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures," AHEM AHEM. No mention of which teachings, though. Maybe some of the fun ones about the rules for public stonings in Deutoronomy or something?
Let us now just block quote the entire thing, because of the way it hilariously violates the Establishment Clause in almost every single syllable:
A 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
Brilliant! The "pray harder, everyone" strategy sure did work miracles for Rick Perry in Texas, after all. [Americans United Blog]
Oh yeah...the fact that the whole shellfish/mixed-cloth/crops/gays thing all within proximity of each other is argument enough. Throw in kids being killed by bears for teasing a prophet, a dude offering to give up his daughters to a horny mob, etc and you have plenty for an argument even without the stoning.
"He attended the 1964 Republican National Convention where his father led a challenge of moderates against the right-wing Barry Goldwater. "
And now, Goldwater seems charmingly moderate.