fb x: is laughing that people are trying to sue so there won't be a prayer at Obama's cerimony.
fb y=:You know that our faith is real when people make such a huge issue out of prayer in the name of Jesus. I do not think that people would care if it was in the name of Buddha or any other false God.
I didn't want to hammer-head in on the thread (barely know the commenter), but I had to respond, so here it is:
The truth is that Christians wouldn't even let WalMart get away with "Happy Holidays". Obama is forced by tradition to have a prayer. He will be forced by popular opinion that it be Christian. Christians have this bizarre perspective that they are oppressed by secular law and culture. I think that it would be closer to the truth to say that popular culture is railing against oppression by Christians, and law is attempting painfully extricate itself from the views of Christian Fundamentalists.
While I believe in prayer and in Jesus, I reject the notion of the US as a "Christian Nation" as I would reject Afghanistan as a "Muslim" nation. I believe in secular government, and feel very strongly that the USA should be a place where all faiths can flourish under law, guided by laws based on common sense analysis of actions and consequences with a healthy sprinkling of "Do unto others ..." intermixed. But THAT'S CHRISTIAN!, you protest. Actually not. The notion of the golden rule is a common thread in many religions, and seems like the best way to make a civilization work, no?
1 comment:
Ah, refreshing! Way to go.
I've often thought how foolish it is that "praying in the name of Jesus" is thought to mean intoning "in the name of Jesus" at the end of our prayers, as if it were the perfect "abra-cadabra."
Somehow, I suspect God knows if we're praying in Jesus' name whether or not we say it out loud. This is not a faith of incantations.
How unlike Christ it is to create a fuss over a formula! How readily we pick fights over our silly shibboleths!
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