Pennsylvania House of Representatives Declares "Year of the Bible"

In a frighteningly theocratic gesture, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives just passed a resolution last week declaring 2012 the "Year of the Bible", with a list of "WHEREAS"-es that repeatedly refer to the Bible as "The word of God", and which explicitly states that studying the Bible makes you a better person.

No, seriously.  

They actually did this.

For bonus fuckery points, it was quietly introduced and quickly passed under a procedural rule that designates a resolution "non-controversial" in order to expedite passage.  For extra-super-bonus fuckery points, it passed unanimously!

Yeah.  Declaring the holy book of one religion to be the singular Word of God, and saying that "Renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through holy scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people" is totally non-controversial.  It's not like there are any non-Christians in the state, right - like maybe a Jewish population that's fourth largest in the country?  And Pennsylvania's own Constitution totally doesn't say that "no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship." I mean, even if it does say that, passing a resolution endorsing a "...national need to study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures" doesn't really count as a legal preference for Bible study as a mode of worship, right?

I just don't even know what else to say.  Other than to point out how well this would have gone over if it had been a resolution declaring a "Year of the Qur'an" or "Year of the Tanakh" or "Year of the Eddas" or "Year of the Vedas" or any of the other literally hundreds of holy texts for various religions around the world, and the clear double-standard that makes a resolution declaring one particular holy book the Bestest One Ever acceptable for unanimous - unanimous! - passage, which then gets so little media coverage you wouldn't even know it had happened unless you subscribe to certain religious-issues blogs, versus the media shitstorm and cries of "creeping Sharia law!" that would have ensued if they'd declared a Year of the Qur'an.  

Oh, and by the way - if this doesn't prove that Christians are not fucking oppressed in this country and there is no goddamn "war on religion", no matter how badly their persecution complex wants to invent one to cry about, I don't know what will.  

For any readers in Pennsylvania who would like to contact their Representative to ask them to please stop dabbling in theocracy and actually, y'know, fucking govern their state, the "find my Representative" tool may be found here, and here is a list of email/contact pages for all Reps.