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State House's Bible resolution is indefensible
I see state Rep. Rick Saccone is not content merely to waste the Legislature's time and the taxpayers' money with his "Year of the Bible" resolution, HR 535. He now wastes your ink and our time defending the indefensible in his Feb. 7 commentary ("America Owes Much to God: The House's Bible Resolution Is in Keeping With Tradition").
HR 535 is an atrocity, and I'm ashamed of the House of Representatives for passing it at all, let alone unanimously. To many, I know, voting against a Year of the Bible would be as unthinkable as voting against a Day of the Groundhog. But to assert the Bible is the word of God is to establish religion, and no American legislature is constitutionally authorized to do that. There are multitudes of religions and millions of the nonreligious for whom the Bible is not the word of God. A noncontroversial resolution? Rubbish!
There is a very good reason the United States is a secular nation, and that is the guarantee of religious freedom for all of us. Every time someone asserts our country is something else -- thus tacitly saying the majority has a right to bully the minority -- they add further proof of the Founders' intent.
I hope in the future somebody in the Legislature has the spine to stand up and say "no" to such pandering as HR 535. That I do not hew to a particular orthodoxy does not make me a second-class citizen, and I'd appreciate someone standing up for me.
LEONARD B. RICHARDS
Oakmont
Offensive votes
I am writing to express my deep disappointment that state legislators unanimously passed House Resolution 535 with apparently no regard whatsoever for the diverse and deeply held religious beliefs of their constituents.
I don't understand if it never occurred to any of the representatives that this was a hugely inappropriate resolution or if they simply opted to ignore that fact. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania was not founded on religious beliefs. As a matter of fact, William Penn seems to have made it quite clear that he was committed to ensuring religious tolerance and diversity.
First Published February 11, 2012 12:00 am
