Year of Bible Push Is Misguided

• MAY 28, 2009

By STEVEN WALDMAN

Some religious Christians desperately want the nation to officially recognize Christianity as having a higher status than other faiths. Yet they realize that they can't look like they're rejecting religious freedom or pluralism.

Everett Collection

One approach has been to avoid the phrase "Christian nation" and instead say the country was founded on "Judeo-Christian values." By including the Jews, it sounds more inclusive, and by saying "values" or "principles" it detaches the idea from a particular reading of Scripture. You may not believe everything in Deuteronomy but surely you believe that Thou Shalt Not Murder?

Another approach is Rep. Paul Broun's congressional resolution to designate 2010 as the "Year of the Bible." (Full text of this resolution and a similar one passed in 1983.) Many of the statements in his resolution are factual or non-controversial. For instance:

"Whereas deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testament of the Bible have inspired Americans from all walks of life, especially the early settlers, whose faith, spiritual courage, and moral strength enabled them to endure intense hardships in this new land;"

The problem is not praising the Bible, >>>