Soapbox

On the Side of the Angels

Yesterday I was sent an e-mail forward from a friend I know through church. The title was “In God We Trust” and it basically says that its unreasonable to ask Christians NOt to lead public prayers and have nativity scenes displayed wherever and whenever they want them. How does this infringe upon the rights of non-believers? it asks. What’s the big deal if you don’t believe what they say?

Nobody is asking them to be baptized… Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs.

Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel when perfectly good, centuries-old hymns and carols are chopped up to “inclusify” the words: taking out all the Father‘s and King‘s and any reference to Jesus as a he, (which excuse my ignorance, but wasn’t he?) I understand the desire to remove the stereotyped, male-dominant language, but still- it seems a bit extreem to change the words to the Ode to Joy, for Goodness’ sake.
But I will always have the right to sing those songs any way I want in my own house, so I figure I can surrender a bit of my personal comfort and freedom to shout my beliefs, in the name of respecting others’ differences. Apparently the writer of the e-mail can not.

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.
If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.

If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.

Well you shouldn’t. They don’t allow religion of any kind in China, being communist. (God is the state, the state is God, and all that.) Still want us to do things the way they do there? I have to say that personally, I (and probably most Americans) hold myself to a bit higher a standard than they way they do things in Beijing, or in Baghdad, for crying out loud. Sorry, but that arguement doesn’t wash.

It boggles the mind that smart, careing people don’t get this. If you want a Christian prayer said before your football game, (I assume we’re talking about over the loudspeaker, since you can say anything you want to yourself) then you are first of all, assuming that you are speaking for all Christians.
But you’re probably not. My dissent to this piece is evidence that good Christians disagree and even find others’ religious notions offensive, sometimes.
So which Christians get to make up the prayer? If you let only one group decide what prayer is said, you are giving that group special rights OVER the others, so you really must let all groups speak. Otherwise, if the Baptists only, say , get to make up the game prayers, etc. then you’re a breath away from establishing a preferred, “state” religion! We all know what a pitfall that can be.
Then there might need to be a Jewish prayer, and a Musilim one, and maybe different types of those to represent both orthodox and reform, Sunni and Shia, for example. Do you poll people when coming in to see if they hold a different view so you know whether you need to include their type of prayer?
Soon the prayers last longer than the game! Isn’t it simpler to let each person pray themselves (or not) as they see fit?

This is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1.

True, but that doesn’t answer the question of which Christians come out on top. And so what? Just because the ones can walk up a set of steps outnumber those who can’t by 10,000-1 doesn’t mean that its Ok for the courthouse in Tennessee to make a paralized man crawl up. More doesn’t mean more important.

Our Bible tells us just to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.

Wrong on both, actually- or at least, one-sided. You Bible tells you to pray quietly and not make a spectacle of your faith. It does not say anywhere that you must be allowed to show off your prayers. And NO one in this country is allowed to tell you not to pray. Prayers are supposed to be between yourself and your God: keep them that way. I really think that people who get hot and bothered about “not being allowed to pray” are really just upset about not being given the center-stage to pray on!

But by golly it is time for you to stop taking away our rights! Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights.

Personally I find the arguement that us poor Christians are having our rights stomped on to be a very weak one, similar to the rich white males claiming that Affirmative Action damages them. You don’t know how good you have it! Stop in to Beijing for a while and find out, if you don’t believe me. True separation of church and state does not deny anyone the right to practice their religion- just to stuff their vision of God down someone else’s throat.

May 2004 be the years the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions.

Yipes- the Moral Majority rears its ugly head again! To all of them I say, the only one who can ever stop God from being the foundation of your family and institutions- is YOU! If you really believe that God is with you, then you don’t need validation (or vindication) through a prayer at a football game. If you can’t find God without having him broadcast over the PA system, the problem is your own.
If you want your child to have the 10 commandments on the wall of their school or say a prayer before their football game, good for you. You have the right in this country to send them to a christian school…or to a jewish one, or a muslim one, if you prefer. That’s a big difference between Ohio and Baghdad, by the way, and thank God for it.
For my part, I’m not nearly so concerned about hurting the feelings of the poor athiests or Bhuddists as I am about people like, well, certain administration officials who seem to think that their professed Christianity gives them an inside track on what it right to do in this world, and all who disagree with them are on the “other side”. Guess that makes me~

the Devil’s Advocate