The Pennsylvania General Assembly this week passed a non-binding resolution that declares 2012 as “the year of the Bible.”

“As not only Pennsylvania, but the United States, continues to face great tests and challenges, House Resolution 535 serves as a reminder that we must look to our faith in God and the Holy Scripture to provide us with the strength, wisdom and courage to conquer these great trials,” Rep. Rick Saccone (R), who sponsored the resolution, said.

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“All over the Pennsylvania Capitol, one can easily see the tremendous influence that Christianity and the Bible have had over our founders and predecessors,” he added. “These images and quotes illustrating the beliefs and morals that have shaped our great Commonwealth must never be forgotten.”

The symbolic resolution was approved by a unanimous 193 to 0 vote.

“[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,” it states.

Not surprisingly, the move upset the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group dedicated to keeping religion and government separate.

“Our constitution grants sovereignty not to a deity or a ‘holy book,’ but to ‘We, the People.’ There is no reference to God, the bible, the Ten Commandments or Jesus in the U.S. Constitution, just as there are no references to ‘consent of the governed,’ ‘civil liberties’ or ‘democracy’ in the bible,” the group said.

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“Those who have truly studied the bible realize that it is a moral quagmire, a behavioral grab bag, which has been used to justify automatic rule, tyranny, slavery, the degradation of women and gays, child abuse, war, atrocity and mayhem.”

Photo credit: Kevin Eng