Problems with the Year of the Bible Resolution

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has introduced legislation that designates 2010 as the Year of the Bible.

So many thoughts about this…

The Year of the Bible already took place in 1983. So we should be done with it now.

Isn’t 2010 a midterm election year? Don’t the Republicans desperately need their base to vote so they can win a few seats? Coincidence, I’m sure.

If 2010 is the Year of the Bible, can 2011 be the Year of the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Because then, I’d be willing to go with this…

If 2010 is the Year of the Bible, what the $%&# were the last eight years?

When will we have the Year of the Constitution? If we followed that, we’d be in decent shape…

How is it possible that Michele Bachmann is not a sponsor of this bill… yet?

Let’s look at the wording of the resolution:

Whereas shared Biblical beliefs unified the colonists and gave our early leaders the wisdom to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, both of which recognized the inherent worth, dignity, and inalienable rights of each individual, thus unifying a diverse people with the right to vote, and the freedoms of speech and vast religious freedoms, which inspired courageous men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the Civil Rights Movement;

A movement he had to lead in part because of issues like slavery — justified by the Bible — which denigrated African-Americans for so long.

Whereas the Bible has been the world’s best selling book since it was first published in English in 1526, and has influenced more people than any other book;

Other best-selling books in history include Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book” and the Koran. If any other country edified either of those books, we’d be throwing a shitfit right about now.

Whereas the Bible, used as a moral guide, has inspired compassion, love for our neighbor, and the preciousness of life and marriage…

Unless you’re gay. Then you get no love from these people… nor can you get married… hell, these Christian won’t let you adopt a kid, either. Better they suffer then let two loving gay guys get ahold of them.

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By the way, you want to see how useful Paul Broun has been as a member of Congress? Just look at the other resolutions he has sponsored (via Daily Kos):

H.J.Res.50: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
H.R.1621: Pledge Language is English Declaration and Government Endorsement Act of 2009: To withhold Federal funds from schools that permit or require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem in a language other than English.
H.R.227: Sanctity of Human Life Act: To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.

He’s a waste of space there. Which one(s) of you voted him in to office…?

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By the way, here’s a nice (un-snarky) example of a letter you can send to your Congressperson if they support this legislation.

(Thanks to everyone for the link!)

Ian

Why not 2011 – at least that is a major anniversary? I suspect we’ll be getting a whole lot of King James lovin’ the year after next :/
EndUnknown

Just look at *the the* other resolutions he has sponsored

whoops!
medussa

This has apparently become the Christian Right’s sad strategy: if we can’t get those damned liberal activist judges to allow christian values, we’ll sneak them in the back door and dress them up as generic values. We’ll rename Creationism Intelligent Design and get it taught as science, and we’ll declare a Year of the Bible since we can’t make this a Christian Nation.
This has nothing to do with religion. Really. Purely coincidental.
Mark C.

It should be 2012, since that’s the year Revelation is supposed to become true (if we mix the Bible with the Mayan calendar). 😛
Jim Baerg

& here’s another reason it should be in 2012:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22If_This_Goes_On%E2%80%94%22

“.. Robert A. Heinlein… One of his Future History series, it recounts a future theocratic American society, ruled by the latest in a series of “Prophets.” The First Prophet was Nehemiah Scudder, a backwoods preacher turned President (elected in 2012), then dictator (no elections were held in 2016 or later)”
Reginald Selkirk

If 2010 is the Year of the Bible, what the $%&# were the last eight years?

“The Dark Ages“
Loren Petrich

There are worse problems.

Our Founding Fathers were much more inspired by ancient Greek and Roman writers than they were inspired by the Bible. Nowhere does the Bible describe anything close to councils of leaders or elected leaders or most other features of the Constitution. The main forms of government in the Bible are (1) absolute monarchy and (2) theocracy.

Consider what the Senate was named after. Hint: you won’t find the original Senate in the Bible.

And the authors of the Federalist Papers used the pseudonym Publius, after a politician in the Roman Republic, and their opponents did likewise. Why them and not Biblical leaders if it was the Bible that inspired them?
Infinite Monkey

Ok, fine, we’ll do the 2010 Year of the bible, then 2011 Year of FSM, but 2012 is they Year of the Path of Enlightenment.
Alexis

When do we get The Year of the Kama Sutra?
Sock

🙁

I hate my state. Whenever GA is mentioned in the news, I have to cringe and wait to see what some backwards religious whackjob has done this time.
Emily

This is so embarrassing. As a resident of Broun’s district, I am consistently reminded of how crazy the people around me are. Living in a large college town makes it better, but then you remember that outside of Athens, it’s rural Georiga and there are plenty of people willing to keep him in office.
Tony

Can we get a “Year of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?” I learned more from that book than the KJV.
B. A. A.

if 2010 is year of the bible… then 2011 is the year of “the god Delusion” by Richard Docking…
Michael Nietzsche

I have a way to resolve the bible…….Tear the pages out and use them for toilet paper!
t m

I, unfortunately, live in Broun’s district, and it is largely Christian (and of that, largely evangelical from what I see). It seems that the majority support actions like this here.