Poly, while I agree with pretty much everything you said, I think the last item is what gets people steamed about the whole National Prayer Day. What about us non-Christians? Some of us (and I say some since there are alot of non-Christians out there and I don’t know what they all believe) believe in everything else you said but are now excluded by this last line. I’m sure this is not what you meant, right?
“Oh Lord, protect us from these Thy followers, and smite those who would impose Thee upon us. Let not the wicked gain a majority in either the Senate or the House. Grant Thy humble servant George the strength of character to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol without Thee, and take from him the cruel deceptions of Satan regarding his benevolence.”
To celebrate National Prayer Day according to the tenets of my religion; today at Noon I will lie naked upon my grass under my mighty tree and make loud, screaming, idyllic love to my girlfriend.
Then we will dance about the Maypole and once we intertwine our streamers we will make love again.
Originally posted by Polycarp
I for one will be observing it, along with my wife, by using the Episcopal Daily Office of Noonday Prayer at home. I’m welcoming intercessions from the TM; among the ones that occur to me are:
that God will endow the President with the strength of character to respect the rights of his fellow Americans who are not of his religious beliefs, and demand this respect of his Administration
that our Government will be led to grant equal civil rights to those Americans who have been deprived of them for reasons of faith-based prejudice, notably gay Americans
that all men everywhere will be motivated to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being
that in the place of “traditional family values” that espouse hatred of the different, Christians everywhere will turn to the values taught by Jesus, such as love of one’s fellow man and non-judgmentalism
Please feel free to add intercessions you think proper to this list, and I urge any of my fellow Christians who are willing to join me in praying for these and other similar intercessions to be added here to please do so.
I understand your sentiment, but wouldn’t a letter to a congressman accomplish so much more?
I suspect even some atheists would think that a prayer would be more likely to have an effect, if the congressman in question thought that being against a day of prayer was likely to hurt his chances of re-election.
This is hurting me because from the minute Rev. Chuckles got into office, he’s been doing everything he can to marginalize atheists (indeed, all non-Christians, but especially atheists), and his gov’t. is filled to overflowing with bible-pounding fanatics who are doing everything they can to tear down the putative “wall” we have between church and state. Admittedly, it’s a wall that could be torn down by an anemic sparrow . . .
Yeah, but this National Day of Prayer thing isn’t a Bush thing. We’ve had annual national days of prayer every year for 50 years, and Presidents have been declaring national days of prayer on their own since George Washington.
