A lawsuit claims a Pennsylvania state House resolution declaring 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" is unconstitutional.

House members passed the resolution unanimously in January. But the Freedom from Religion Foundation is suing the measure's main sponsor, Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny; House clerk Tony Barbush; and congressman Clancy Myer.

The group of atheists and agnostics said the resolution "sends a message to the citizens of Pennsylvania, including (the foundation's) members, that Christian beliefs are more legitimate in the eyes of the state than other systems of belief and thought, which constitute matters of individual free conscience."

They asked ask a federal judge Monday to order Rep. Saccone to stop distributing the resolution and to rule that Pennsylvania's government is not Judeo-Christian.

Saccone said the measure serves to recognize the important role the Bible has played in the state's history.

"God has always been a part of our government," Saccone said. "To deny that is to deny history. And that's all the resolution is -- a recognition of a book that has been so important in our nation's history."