I've nothing against prayer -- and neither has Obama; he prays daily. That's not the point. The point is our national government is not a national church, and shouldn't (IMO) be in the business of religious proselytization, and I applaud this decision, sure to renew the boorish vehemence his detractors are so quick to apply to any perceived flaw no matter how slight, and just wanted to say as much to help at least attempt to balance the scales a wee bit in light of what is sure to come.
-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 on Thursday 7th of May 2009 08:52:35 AM
ive had a few moments of discomfort around this in the past couple of days. one of my employers has a variety of employee groups, among them an lgbt group and a christian group. they provide a place for what amounts to a church service on the property, publically recognize this day of prayer, and allow a lot of christian literature to be dispersed on the grounds. unfortunately much of this literature has blurbs having to do with lgbt issues and the mainstream "christian" perspective on same. imo your rights end when they bump into mine and this is one of those places. im forever throwing out the literature that contains anti glbt propaganda left in the waiting room. i dont think this kind of thing is appropriate in a work environment any more than it is as a govt sponsored day. if one is not a fundamentalist christian or if one is among the groups that these folks think of as spawns of satan then the work environment can become a bit oppressive. i limit my activism around this to ensuring that it doesnt go over the line. in a diverse world we need to make room for all points of view and as long as there is no attempt to extinguish other points of view i think it important to peacefully coexist.
that said the other night coming home i was listening to the radio in the car and the announcer said they were taking prayer requests. prayer requests on a popular mass local radio station? to the best of my knowledge this is not a christian owned station tho who knows these days. all i could think was oh no is there no end to this? give it a rest for crying out loud. but then i was listening to the people who called in. most of them were facing the death of a family member and asking for prayers. i found that touching and not obnoxious as i had expected.
The first Thursday of May was proclaimed "National Prayer Day" back in 1952 -- the decade that saw "E Pluribus Unum" replaced with "In God We Trust" on American money, and "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance; largely, one presumes, to distance those devising and affirming such measures, as much as possible, any connection with Communism, thanks to Joseph McCarthy's witch hunting of that same era, which, of course, infamously destroyed countless lives, and to endear those legislators to their constituencies, thus assuring political longevity.
Prior to GWB's "ascension" to the White House, presidents have generally signed a proclamation that day, continuing the tradition, but 43 decided to make a big deal out of it, and host an unprecedented official presidential prayer jamboree hoopla, and continued that "new" tradition the entire time he was in office.
The new president has decided to, as some media outlets phrase it "scale back" on the event, restoring it to its former status. Of course this ignites bonfires under those quick to accuse Barack "Hussein" Obama of being a Muslim socialist, blah blah blah blah. Let 'em rant, say I: they're going to anyway. These are the same people who also loudly accuse him of being socialist, and then turn right around and have apoplectic fits because Michelle Obama has some expensive tennis shoes, and demand they should have the same, at which point, the "socialist" accusation becomes somewhat muffled, and nudged into the corner of the conversation.
I've nothing against prayer -- and neither has Obama; he prays daily. That's not the point. The point is our national government is not a national church, and shouldn't (IMO) be in the business of religious proselytization, and I applaud this decision, sure to renew the boorish vehemence his detractors are so quick to apply to any perceived flaw no matter how slight, and just wanted to say as much to help at least attempt to balance the scales a wee bit in light of what is sure to come.
-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 on Thursday 7th of May 2009 08:52:35 AM
