# Congress calls for US to fast and pray for "God" to help win the war??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628 "2003-03-27T22:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/21 "2003-03-28T01:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by glee \* > \*\*Isn’t there a song about ‘with God on our side’? :rolleyes: Yup. Linked to it above. 🙂 A few verses: > [@](#): > > Oh my name it is nothin’ > My age it means less > The country I come from > Is called the Midwest > I’s taught and brought up there > The laws to abide > And that land that I live in > Has God on its side. > > \ > > But now we got weapons > Of the chemical dust > If fire them we’re forced to > Then fire them we must > One push of the button > And a shot the world wide > And you never ask questions > When God’s on your side. > > \ > > So now as I’m leavin’ > I’m weary as Hell > The confusion I’m feelin’ > Ain’t no tongue can tell > The words fill my head > And fall to the floor > If God’s on our side > He’ll stop the next war. ---
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/22 "2003-03-28T01:37:34Z")
Woah, I searched for it on the Congress website, and it _is_ real! [Linky](http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/~c108zjLP6W) What a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/23 "2003-03-29T20:32:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Does this mean that Bush is now the Pope? Does he get to wear a funny hat? \*\* Well, it would have to be really small, and it would have to be really, really pointy.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![feath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4bbf92/32.png) [@feath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feath)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/24 "2003-03-29T20:44:59Z")
When did Christians ever fast? I know Muslims do, but when do Christains? Honest, I dont know. ---
**Author:** ![TeleTronOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@TeleTronOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeleTronOne)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/25 "2003-03-29T20:49:33Z")
Resolutions are just sort of silly, they can serve as sort of a “Take that!” from the more uppity members of congress. But they don’t really mean much most of the time. And keep in mind that all those loonies in the House just have to sneeze and some random piece of wack-o legislation ends up on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/26 "2003-03-30T00:23:23Z")
Well, didncha know that God is an American 😉 I have no problem with prayer, I do it myself on a daily basis, but if I remember correctly, the Lord’s prayer goes “THY will be done,” not OUR will. ---
**Author:** ![Kiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/27 "2003-03-30T00:28:23Z")
Anyone else feel like they’re in Bizarro America? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/28 "2003-03-30T00:37:53Z")
Shit like this makes the Baby Jesus puke His little guts out. Somebody out to read Mark Twains “The War Prayer” into the Congressional Record. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/29 "2003-03-30T01:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by **carimwc** _ > So what are they going to do to those who don’t participate in this day, if it actually passes? Are we going to be considered “unamerican”? Not everyone prays and I’m very scared that a resolution like this could come about. What are they going to do to them? Probably about the same thing they do to people who don’t observe Thanksgiving. > [@](#): > > Isn’t freedom from religion part of our Constitution? Last I heard, praying was religious. And so is God. Well, what the Constitution actually says is > [@](#): > > Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Would this be such a law? Maybe. But at least it doesn’t establish any specific religion, and my for-what-it’s-worth guess it that this is not the kind of thing the Founding Fathers were trying to protect us from. I see nothing in this resolution implying a belief that God is on our side! And I’m not sure what’s so threatening or offensive, even from an atheist point of view, about recommending “humility, prayer, and fasting.” I can understand a reaction of :rolleyes: , but not :mad: . ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/30 "2003-03-30T01:57:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Whereas, on March 16, 1776, the Continental Congress, recognizing that the `Liberties of America are imminently endangered' and the need `to acknowledge the overruling Providence of God’, called for a day of `Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer’; Umm, because as an atheist, I don’t want to be told about the “needx to acknowledge the overruling providendce of God.” It offends me in that there is a religious bent to this war that’s being sanctioned by the government. Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/31 "2003-03-30T02:29:56Z")
Which country is closer to a theocracy - Iraq or the United States? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/32 "2003-03-30T02:51:41Z")
America. Our God is far more tangible, we can fold Him and put him in our wallets. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/33 "2003-03-30T03:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by feath \* > \*\*When did Christians ever fast? I know Muslims do, but when do Christains? > Honest, I dont know. \*\* I don’t know about other Christians, but Catholics fast now [Lent: Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday (the day before Easter)] and again at Advent which begins 4 weeks before Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/34 "2003-03-30T10:15:05Z")
Yepyep, this’ll sure convince the Muslim world that we’re not on some kind of new Crusade… ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/35 "2003-03-30T10:47:38Z")
And, just because I’m not sure that it’s clear here, the national day of prayer isn’t something new that’s a response to the war, is it? I have a clear memory of this happening every year. Maybe it just doesn’t always get on the news. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/36 "2003-03-30T14:35:06Z")
quote]Somebody out to read Mark Twains “The War Prayer” into the Congressional Record. [/quote] I sincerely wish that I could cause every policy-making official of the United States of America to read “The War Prayer” until is sunk into their minds forever. After that, I would haul out “Johnny Got His Gun” and forcefeed it to them. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/37 "2003-03-30T14:44:38Z")
This just in: [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s819685.htm](http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s819685.htm) “US soldiers asked to pray for Bush” (No, this is not an example of post-modernist irony.) "Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called “A Christian’s Duty,” a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush. " [snip] "Sunday’s is “Pray that the President and his advisers will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding”. Monday’s reads “Pray that the President and his advisers will be strong and courageous to do what is right regardless of critics”. " Laugh or scream? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/38 "2003-03-30T15:58:22Z")
I defy anyone to defend the pamphlet cited by **'lucy** above. A “Christian duty?” A _Christian_ fucking _duty_??? Bush is not only pissing all over SOCAS to an unprecedented degree, he is blithely using religion to manipulate political opinion. Does this bother you Bush supporters at all? Think about it. He’s handing out pamphlets to the troops, explicitly _Christian_ pamphlets, which tell them that they have a _duty_ to pray for the fucktard in the White House, and which strongly implies that any critics of said fucktard are anti-Christian and anti-American. How is this acceptable? How is this legal? Come on Bush lovers, defend this fucking bullshit, I dare you. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/39 "2003-03-30T16:24:14Z")
**DtC** , please calm down. The article seems to indicate the pamphlet is not an official release from the government. _Bush_ isn’t “handing out pamphlets.” Ministry groups typically offer bibles and various religious paraphernalia including pocket prayer books to troops who want them; this is commonplace, and has not a thing to do with SOCAS or Bush’s egomania. Really, the sky’s not falling. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628/40 "2003-03-30T16:25:22Z")
(Actually, the sky _may_ be falling, but it’s not these pamphlets that brought it down.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-calls-for-us-to-fast-and-pray-for-god-to-help-win-the-war/164628.md?page=3)