Jesus H. Christ: The Bible Bill?
I woke up and knew I wanted to write something on my off day, but found myself without any interesting ideas. So I went to that great bastion of ideas-Yahoo!-and found this story about a resolution by Congress to make 2010 “A Year of the Bible” (Or some such nonsense).
Wow. Can I say wow. Is this not 2009? Are we still doing this religious nonsense? I guess so. Bleh. I find this whole thing quite irritating because it’s a continual reminder of the distraction that religion plays in society and the divisive nature of religion. From the article:
The resolution specifically asks the president “to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great democratic form of government.”
Talk about divisive! “Citizens of all faiths” are not going to care about the message of the “Holy Scripture”. That’s the whole point of recognizing that people hold different beliefs. Why should Muslims or Jews or Buddhists (or atheists!!!) recognize Christian scripture? They don’t, and they won’t, at least not in the way that Christians want them to. Why should those minority groups compromise their beliefs? The danger of such a resolution as the one advocated by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is that it’s an attempt to force the President to take a professional position on what should be a private matter. If it were to pass and make it to Pres. Obama’s desk it might serve as a useful tool for Republicans in distracting the American people off the real issues the country faces.
This isn’t the first time such a thing has occurred. 1983 was actually called a “Year of the Bible” by Pres. Reagan. Interesting how this “Year of the Bible” might be percieved compared to the 1983 version. I see this as an attempt to energize the Republican base (the bill has 15 co-signers in the House, all Republicans) by providing an emotional issue to a base with few issues. The real issues (the economy, the wars, torture, etc) are being handled by the Democratic majority, thus the listless Republican party (which has failed on all of those “real” issues) must manufacture an issue that might score them a few headlines. What better than “The Bible”? Throw religion out there and reignite the “Separation of Church and State” issue in a country where secular and atheistic thought is gaining strength as science and rationalism make dents in a country that became highly saturated in emotional religious thinking in the years starting with Reagan (the 1983 year must have been highly useful in touching the Evangelical part of the Republican party) and culminating with Bush II in the 2000s.
As to my personal opinion on this resolution…whatever. I won’t recognize the Bible as having any productive rules that we humans cannot have invented independently of “God”. Sorry. From my reading of the Bible “God” (if he exists) is a megolomanical jerkweed who has murdered millions of his own creations who failed to follow his fickle rules. I will not worship anyone like that nor honor his/her/its rulebook. Sorry. If this resolution passes I will ignore it, as I do Christianity as much as possible. We got bigger fish to fry in this country than honoring a book of fairy tales for adults.
May 23, 2009 at 7:59 pm
(YOU DON’T HAVE TO APPROVE THIS: But I found a translation for that other strange comment you received. Turns out it was Russian)
“It is thought if long to try, even the most complex idea can so in detail be opened”
May 25, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I find your negative stance towards religion problematic in several ways, but perhaps most relevant to you, pragmatically you only alienate any who you would otherwise hope to influence by using such uncharitable words. For what it’s worth. Not that I care or know much about this supposed proposal, I’m just letting you know it is rather unseemly to see people whining about things this way. Sounds very Bill Maher-ly.
May 26, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I get your point, but sometimes the vitroil builds up in me about something I vehemently disagree with and which I find to be a brazen attack on the separation of church/state. Better to complain here in my little corner of the Net than to do it to the many religious people I have to listen to on a daily basis.
And while I could probably put forth a more articulate and respectable argument that provides space in the debate where “agree to disagree” and respect for both positions might exist, I find it very difficult to do when I can’t fake respect for religion. I’m sure it’s a flawed position to do my “whining” but I’m not going to put forth the effort to create a respectful argument of something I clearly have no respect for (things such as the Bible, “God”, and organized religions in general). I’m not going to humor religious folks in that way, to do so would in my opinion be disingenious. I’m blunt about the issue, sorry.
May 27, 2009 at 10:50 pm
I don’t share you anti-religious sentiment Zack, but one thing’s for sure: this sort of thing has no place in government.
May 28, 2009 at 8:21 am
I agreed with that thought when I was at most religious. As I said in the entry I think alot of it’s about creating a political issue that will galvanize the Republican evangelicals and allow the Republicans to talk about -something- besides issues they have proven to suck at. Thanks for stopping by Chris.