More On Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth

An astute reader drew my attention this morning to some recently introduced business of super-duper-uber imporance to the Commonwealth, a Resolution declaring 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania.

This hypocritical and unconstitutional resolution is from the legislative desk of State Representative Rick Saccone (R-Elizabeth).  Who's a very interesting fellow, indeed.

Here's the text:

A RESOLUTION

Declaring 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, The Bible, the word of God, has made a unique contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people; and

WHEREAS, Deeply held religious convictions springing from the holy scriptures led to the early settlement of our country; and

WHEREAS, Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Many of our great national leaders, among them President Washington, President Jackson, President Lincoln, President Wilson and President Reagan, paid tribute to the influence of the Bible in our country's development, as exemplified by the words of President Jackson that the Bible is "the rock on which our Republic rests"; and

WHEREAS, The history of our country clearly illustrates the value of voluntarily applying the teachings of the scriptures in the lives of individuals, families and societies; and

WHEREAS, This nation now faces great challenges that will test it as it has never been tested before; and

WHEREAS, Renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through holy scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives declare 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania in recognition of both the formative influence of the Bible on our Commonwealth and nation and our national need to study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures.

By the way, it passed unanimously with a vote of 193-0.

As a reminder, let's take a look at that section of the Pennsylvania Constitution that guarantees religious freedom:

All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship.

I wonder if Representative Saccone can explain to us how simply asserting that The Bible is "the word of God" doesn't conflict with the State Constitution barring "any human authority" from preferring one religious establishment or "mode of worship" over another.  Aren't there other Pennsylvanians who are just as theistically inclined as brother Rick but who don't accept The Bible's unique supremacy?

Yes, there are and I believe some of those citizens they may be called "muslims".

Or how, by the same argument, a resolution calling for "[r]enewing our knowledge of and faith in God through holy scripture" or "our national need to study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures." isn't similarly unconstitutional as well.

Interesting, Saccone's position on faith, considering how he's also a co sponsor of House Bill 2029 the so-called "Sharia Law".

I guess this means that faith written into legislation is acceptable if it's the good faith, unacceptable if it's the bad faith.

Interesting guy, Rick Saccone.

Favors the use of waterboarding, did you know that?  Doesn't think waterboarding is torture, did you know that?

And how do I know that?  Because he said so:

Basically, torture is an act intentionally intended to inflict severe and long-lasting physical and mental pain, including amputation, scarring, burning, maiming, mutilation. Coercion means a much lower threshold of pain or discomfort such as stress positions, pushing, temperature change, meal manipulation, loud music, exploiting phobias, trickery, yelling, etc. If done skillfully and in the right circumstances, water-boarding or WB is very effective and causes no long-lasting damage. It is used to train our special forces so I don't consider it torture.

WWJT - Who Would Jesus Torture?