Over at Facebook, a “friend” reposted the above pathetic, paired-couplet prayer from a 15-year old school kid. I read through it, and responded, “This is ridiculous.”
You can see that I did that above.
I hoped that the guy would respond, but he hasn’t.
In his defense, this kid went to public school and I went to private school, where we learned the Bible and what it teaches. We also had better history teachers who taught us that keeping “God” out of public schools protects Americans, and doesn’t hurt them.
Friends and family have accused me of being disdainful toward belief. They say that I perpetuate a stereotype. And I do not deny it.
But I’m also sympathetic to the cause. I love my friends and family, and I believe there are more intelligent ways of pursuing belief … and reposting poorly written and badly researched Facebook memes (or emailing them) is definitely not one of them.
Let’s break down quickly why this post is “ridiculous.”
- As for public prayer, the first source a Christian should direct his or her anger is Jesus. His commandment is not to pray in public as the hypocrites, but in private (Matthew 6:6).
- “God” didn’t show up in the pledge of allegiance until 1954 and the word “God” is found nowhere in the Lord’s Prayer.
- The last I checked, God is said to be omniscient. He’s everywhere. Saying God is not in school is saying “God’s powerless at the boundaries of a schoolyard.”
- The last I checked, prayer can be done during sports, while walking, jogging, while eating … in fact prayer can be done almost anytime anywhere. Jesus advocated silent, private prayer, which means that version of prayer is more powerful than public prayer … rendering this entire poem from a 15-year old kid as futile as a water sprinkler on the moon.
- God’s will is done whether there is prayer or not. Whether God is in the school or not, his “will be done.” When people like Trey downgrade “God” to a powerless moron, it lumps His followers into that category.
- You can read the Snopes article about this stupid poem here.
- Only in the evangelical community is a “15-year old” considered an intelligent source good enough to listen to.
No one is oppressing anyone. In fact, most of the people perpetuating ignorant messages like the above are evangelicals that lean toward Tea Party politics … these are people who want less government.
And yet not one of these people would want others imposing Vishnu, Thor, Zoroaster, Buddha, Allah or any of the other millions of gods imposed on children in PUBLIC schools.
Le Café Wittypoots 