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I love the prayers
before government meetings and sports events. These public
expressions of faith remind me there's more to life than
politics and games. I feel better after a man or woman -- it
doesn't matter what faith or to whom they pray -- shares a word
about thankfulness, fair play and the joys of life that come
from God.
And yet some insist on using what should be an innocent prayer
to uphold a principle that demeans people of other faiths and
gives credence to those who say: "I told you organized religion
divides more than it unites."
Anyway, the
courts consistently say we're not supposed to end
government-sponsored prayers in Jesus' name.
Good principle
gone awry
The hottest battleground is South Carolina, where some
insist on publicly affirming Jesus no matter what the
Constitution says about government not endorsing one religion
over another. Great Falls, S.C., tried it and got creamed by a
Wiccan who wound up having the Chester County town ordered to
pay her legal fees. Even after the Great Falls debacle -- and
the issue becoming the talk of his town -- Rock Hill City
Council member Jim Reno ended his recent public prayer before a
meeting in Jesus' name. He politely declined to tell me the
reasons why.
I won't speak for
him, but I think I know why some well-meaning people can't let
go of their Jesus prayer: Their passion for Jesus is matched
only by a dread that somehow they won't be able to honor him
openly, freely, whenever and wherever they want.
I'm thankful
there are people of faith standing guard against anyone
threatening our right to worship freely. But they're taking one
sacred principle and misapplying it in a way that violates
another sacred principle: Our right to a government that doesn't
favor one religion over another.
I feel the same
way about those who pine for organized prayer in public school.
Aren't there enough places to pray in America without praying in
places where it's going to get shoved down someone's throat?
God's work,
really
I love what retired Presbyterian pastor Jim Watkins of Rock
Hill has to say. In a conversation with me, and a guest column
in The Herald in Rock Hill, Watkins said the most important work
on God's behalf isn't done in the prayer before the meeting, no
matter who gets prayed to.
God's work is
done when politicians get down to doing the people's business --
caring for widows and orphans, providing affordable housing for
the old, recreation for the young, and police and fire
protection equally for everyone regardless of their color, class
and status.
"We presume that God is not at work somewhere if God isn't at
work on our terms,"
Watkins said.
"The most important religious thing a city council or town
council can look at is the budget."
Some people are
having trouble seeing that because they've created a cloud of
controversy that blinds us to a simple but pivotal point.
It's not just how
we pray.
It's how we live.
Ken Garfield -
www.charlotteobserver.com |
Guest
Speaker
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TODAY...
