was posted on another group. and thought you should know....
It is my hope that once you read the article below that each and everyone
contact you Congressional Rep's for your home state and encourage them to VOTE
NO!
Contacting your Congressional Rep is easy and quick. Just go to the
Congressional Reps home Page (All of them have one) and find the Contact button,
from there you may select to contact them by email, phone or snail mail. Let
them know that as their constituent you want them to vote no.
I strongly urge everyone to get involved here before more rights, and freedoms
are eradicated and the line between church and state becomes non-existent.Once
freedoms are lost because no one had the time nor care to get involved they are
gone for good! Do this for you and your family!
Ave,
HPS Hecate
Now the article:
The Bible bill?
Politico
Victoria McGrane Victoria Mcgrane Fri May 22, 5:40 am ET
When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) hopes
you'll be ringing in "the Year of the Bible."
It's probably just wishful thinking.
Broun's simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has
produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics
dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time. Jews in Congress
and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution, while none of the many
Democrats in Congress who are Christian have bothered to sign on as co-sponsors.
According to GovTrak.us, the resolution is among the most-blogged-about pieces
of legislation, with most posts less than complimentary in nature.
"Does that mean 2009 is not the year of the Bible?" mocked Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Mass.), who is Jewish. "What is 2012 the year of? The Quran?"
"That's an endorsement of religion by the federal government, and we shouldn't
be doing that," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), even though he has introduced
his own legislation dealing with religion.
"Republican lawmakers with apparently too much time on their hands and no
solutions to offer the country are pushing a resolution that will not address
the nation's problems or advance prosperity or even untangle their previous
governing mistakes," blogged the Progressive Puppy.
Broun rejects the critiques leveled at this effort.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Christianity," he said in an interview
with POLITICO. Rather, he says, it seeks to recognize that the Bible played an
integral role in the building of the United States, including providing the
basis for our freedom of religion that allows Muslims, Hindus and even atheists
to vocalize their own beliefs.
And even as Nadler criticized Broun, he has done his own share of mixing
religion and legislation.
Last year, he introduced a bill that would overturn a federal appeals court
ruling an "idiot" decision, he says that a condominium board in Chicago had
the right to ban Jews from installing mezuzahs, which consist of a piece of
parchment inscribed with a specific religious text put inside a case and hung on
a door frame.
Condo boards shouldn't be able to interfere in an individual's right to practice
his or her religion, Nadler said.
But he himself declined to install a mezuzah on his congressional office door
when asked by a rabbi, even though he does so at home.
"That's my religious symbol, and the office does not belong to me; it belongs to
the people of the congressional district, and no one should feel uncomfortable
walking into the office if it's not their religion," Nadler said, describing his
feelings on religion and Congress.
"Same thing with the Bible. ... It's not everybody's religion. And the federal
government should not be imposing religious viewpoints."
Atheists, who might feel themselves a particular target with the declaration of
a biblical year, aren't even worried about Broun's effort.
"Right now, we're seeing atheism on such a rise," said David Silverman, vice
president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to
fighting for the civil rights of atheists.
"We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we're not
particularly worried about it. We're thinking that this kind of old-style George
W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away," Silverman said, referring to the
latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed nonreligious
Americans as the fastest-growing group.
And it may be the best-selling book of all time, as Broun's resolution points
out, but the Bible isn't such a popular legislative topic.
A search of Thomas, the online congressional database, for "Bible" yields just
one other bill: a resolution to have the "Lincoln-Obama Bible" on permanent
display in the Capitol Visitor Center.
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."
As for the economy, health care, global warming and all the other issues on
Congress' plate?
"While we must focus on fiscal policies that provide relief to families during
these tough economic times, an endeavor I have been working tirelessly towards
in this Congress, we must also not forget to protect and celebrate our
fundamental freedoms that the Bible has influenced," Broun said.
Broun has gathered 15 co-sponsors, all Republicans, but says he's looking for
more and hopes Democrats will sign on, as well.
"This is not a partisan issue," he said. "I want it to be bipartisan."
Whether he's successful or not the same measure didn't go anywhere last year
at least Broun and his fellow supporters can take heart in one fact: They
already had a "year of the Bible."
Ronald Reagan designated 1983 as one, with Congress' blessing.
It is my hope that once you read the article below that each and everyone
contact you Congressional Rep's for your home state and encourage them to VOTE
NO!
Contacting your Congressional Rep is easy and quick. Just go to the
Congressional Reps home Page (All of them have one) and find the Contact button,
from there you may select to contact them by email, phone or snail mail. Let
them know that as their constituent you want them to vote no.
I strongly urge everyone to get involved here before more rights, and freedoms
are eradicated and the line between church and state becomes non-existent.Once
freedoms are lost because no one had the time nor care to get involved they are
gone for good! Do this for you and your family!
Ave,
HPS Hecate
Now the article:
The Bible bill?
Politico
Victoria McGrane Victoria Mcgrane Fri May 22, 5:40 am ET
When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) hopes
you'll be ringing in "the Year of the Bible."
It's probably just wishful thinking.
Broun's simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has
produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics
dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time. Jews in Congress
and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution, while none of the many
Democrats in Congress who are Christian have bothered to sign on as co-sponsors.
According to GovTrak.us, the resolution is among the most-blogged-about pieces
of legislation, with most posts less than complimentary in nature.
"Does that mean 2009 is not the year of the Bible?" mocked Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Mass.), who is Jewish. "What is 2012 the year of? The Quran?"
"That's an endorsement of religion by the federal government, and we shouldn't
be doing that," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), even though he has introduced
his own legislation dealing with religion.
"Republican lawmakers with apparently too much time on their hands and no
solutions to offer the country are pushing a resolution that will not address
the nation's problems or advance prosperity or even untangle their previous
governing mistakes," blogged the Progressive Puppy.
Broun rejects the critiques leveled at this effort.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Christianity," he said in an interview
with POLITICO. Rather, he says, it seeks to recognize that the Bible played an
integral role in the building of the United States, including providing the
basis for our freedom of religion that allows Muslims, Hindus and even atheists
to vocalize their own beliefs.
And even as Nadler criticized Broun, he has done his own share of mixing
religion and legislation.
Last year, he introduced a bill that would overturn a federal appeals court
ruling an "idiot" decision, he says that a condominium board in Chicago had
the right to ban Jews from installing mezuzahs, which consist of a piece of
parchment inscribed with a specific religious text put inside a case and hung on
a door frame.
Condo boards shouldn't be able to interfere in an individual's right to practice
his or her religion, Nadler said.
But he himself declined to install a mezuzah on his congressional office door
when asked by a rabbi, even though he does so at home.
"That's my religious symbol, and the office does not belong to me; it belongs to
the people of the congressional district, and no one should feel uncomfortable
walking into the office if it's not their religion," Nadler said, describing his
feelings on religion and Congress.
"Same thing with the Bible. ... It's not everybody's religion. And the federal
government should not be imposing religious viewpoints."
Atheists, who might feel themselves a particular target with the declaration of
a biblical year, aren't even worried about Broun's effort.
"Right now, we're seeing atheism on such a rise," said David Silverman, vice
president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to
fighting for the civil rights of atheists.
"We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we're not
particularly worried about it. We're thinking that this kind of old-style George
W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away," Silverman said, referring to the
latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed nonreligious
Americans as the fastest-growing group.
And it may be the best-selling book of all time, as Broun's resolution points
out, but the Bible isn't such a popular legislative topic.
A search of Thomas, the online congressional database, for "Bible" yields just
one other bill: a resolution to have the "Lincoln-Obama Bible" on permanent
display in the Capitol Visitor Center.
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."
As for the economy, health care, global warming and all the other issues on
Congress' plate?
"While we must focus on fiscal policies that provide relief to families during
these tough economic times, an endeavor I have been working tirelessly towards
in this Congress, we must also not forget to protect and celebrate our
fundamental freedoms that the Bible has influenced," Broun said.
Broun has gathered 15 co-sponsors, all Republicans, but says he's looking for
more and hopes Democrats will sign on, as well.
"This is not a partisan issue," he said. "I want it to be bipartisan."
Whether he's successful or not the same measure didn't go anywhere last year
at least Broun and his fellow supporters can take heart in one fact: They
already had a "year of the Bible."
Ronald Reagan designated 1983 as one, with Congress' blessing.
