facebook
rss
twitter
  • About
    • Contact
    • Elementary & Secondary Education Department
    • Social Concerns Department
    • Pennsylvania Catholic Health Association
  • Legislative Review
  • Issues
    • Catholic Education
    • Faith and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Life and Dignity
    • Marriage and Family
    • Religious Liberty
    • Social Justice
  • Bishops’ Statements
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Bulletin Inserts
    • Church Documents
    • PA Catholic Statistics
    • Related Sites
    • Send A Letter to The Editor
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feeds
    • Via E-mail
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Gasp!! Biblical Quotations Still Adorn Many Walls of State Capitol!!

February 01, 2019
by Al Gnoza
Comments are off

You will never guess where you can find a wide selection of biblical quotations when you visit Harrisburg. Well, yeah, the bible. But I’m talking a building.

It’s the State Capitol of all places–hard to believe in this day and age where there is always someone looking to be offended.

PA Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Republican out of the northwestern part of the state, put out a nice booklet that is complete with the verses and the scenes that accompany those verses. Many are in the Governor’s reception room, House chambers and Senate chambers.

Rapp stated in the first page of her book “Pennsylvania’s history and heritage is rooted in religious significance. From William Penn’s own vision and statement of establishing a Holy Experiment, to the first laws proposed by the General Assembly, to the first section of the first Constitution, the Charter of Privileges, entitled the freedom of conscience, our founders based their way of life on religious convictions.

There are verses from the Old Testament, including Isaiah 42:1,4,7,10 “Behold my servant whom I uphold to pen the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Sing unto the Lord a new song ye that go down to the sea.”

There are also several from the New Testament and the Gospels, like Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake.”

No, this would not happen today. Not with the hyper-politically correct world we live in. In fact, it’s kind of surprising no one has fought to take it down. Maybe they have and I don’t know it.

For example…

There’s a case involving Lehigh County and the cross on its county seal that was added in 1944. It was fine then, but of course it had to offend somebody eventually. Yep. It did. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation—how they came across the symbol is beyond me—joined four Lehigh County residents and filed a lawsuit. According to the Morning Call, they argued “the seal was a violation of their first amendment rights.”

U.S. District Judge Edward G. Smith agreed with the folks who were offended. He ruled in September that Lehigh Co. would have to change it on flags, cars or other property but could keep it on older documents. The County appealed to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which is waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to act on a similar case before it makes a ruling.

 

About the Author
Social Share
  • google-share

News From Around PA

  • Kinship care, adoption keeps kids in the family
  • Senior prelate thinks church is growing secretly in North Korea
  • Saints’ lives prove God’s love for all, pope says at canonization Mass
  • Administrative Assistant -- St. Ferdinand, St. Gregory and Holy Redeemer Parishes
  • Parish Business Manager Part-time St. Katharine Drexel Parish, Bentleyville, Washington County
  • Statement of Bishop Joseph C. Bambera on U.S. Senate Vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act
Click To Read More

Post Archives

Recent Posts

Rep. Kate Klunk Talks About Help for Those With Postpartum Depression
May 13, 2022
This Week in PA Catholic Schools: 5-13-22; Sports
May 13, 2022
This Week in PA Catholic Schools: 5-13-22; Classroom & Community
May 13, 2022

All Issues

  • Catholic Education
  • Faith and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Life and Dignity
  • Marriage and Family
  • Religious Liberty
  • Social Justice

banner

Sign up to join the Catholic Advocacy Network today!

CClogo© 2021 Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Bookmark and Share Site by Halibut Blue® | Login