I would say include yourself and all people so that we could live together as one Race (the human race) ,with many different view points. Perhaps if we recoginzed that, As the psalmist is quoted in the 81st, and 82d of some bibles, we would concentrate on the phrase’Don’t you know you are gods, sons of the most high".Jesus refers to this in John 10. Look for the divine in others.
We are all connected,we need each other, the environment, and all plant, and animal life to sustain the Human race.
I believe some people do,but when I hear the Presidents, world leaders etc. I mostly hear them saying to pray for the dead, and the victims of crimes never the criminals.
“O Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence. [snip]O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony.[snip]”
Since I’ve been Baha’i, and especially since 9/11, this has been one of my favorite prayers.
As a child our family went to church together three times a week. As an adult I have not always taken the “time” to go to church, but lifes lessons has taught me that praying for my enemies is near the top of the list. The Lords Prayer prays for the forgivness of our enemies. We will always have enemies, so praying for them teaches me forgivness, hope, and strength.
The thing with Jimmy Carter is that he hoped bad people would repent of their wickedness and become good people. He prayed for them.
Another example come for WWII.
For some religious people, your enemies are God’s enemies. (maybe viceversa) Your offing them is God’s will or God’s work. It isn’t up to you to go about fixing them. They made a choice of evil and for that they must pay.
I didn’t see your reply before today, or it didn’t catch my eye, but I know a lot of Proper Atheists" that do not consider people who differ with them as enemies, I know several"Proper Christians" who consider themselves friends of God, and all who do not believe as they do as enemies of God. God, if he is good, has no enemies. The word “proper” is a matter of opinion. I think of all the Christians I have heard on this board. Polycarp is the most Christ Like, he is non judgemental (as Jesus comanded) is kind in his words, and seems respects all people and lets God handle others.
Monavis
I think the OP has an interesting point, though, about official prayers, which generally do seem to leave out perpetrators/enemies/evildoers.
The “war rally” in the Twain quote linked by Scott Plaid is one example (as is Zebra’s WWII prayer), and another is Bush’s speech at the National Cathedral shortly after 9/11:
This is clearly a Christian-inspired prayer (although as part of an ecumenical service, it doesn’t explicitly refer to Jesus), but there isn’t a word in it about praying for the “enemies of freedom” who committed those atrocities.
Not a syllable about loving one’s enemies, or praying for them, or the need for forgiveness.
And Clinton and Bush are both Christians, so they must know what Christian doctrine requires on that point.
So. If people of faith in general accept the necessity to pray for enemies—and it seems from their responses here that they do—then why are public prayers and references to prayer in the speeches of our public servants so silent about it?
We may well pray for our enemies, but perhaps a public prayer isn’t the best place for it. Wouldn’t want to encourage the bad guys and al that. And after all, the fact that we pray for them does not mean we pray for their sucesss. In fact, we pray for their complete failure at the same time we wish them the moral best. And the two are essentially identical, because what they want is presumably of no good to them, either.
sb:We may well pray for our enemies, but perhaps a public prayer isn’t the best place for it. Wouldn’t want to encourage the bad guys and al that.
I see the logic in that, but that suggests to me that prayer of any kind simply doesn’t belong in official political activities. If people of faith have to abstain from praying for their enemies when they pray publicly—even though it’s something that’s required by their faith—just because it might make for bad PR, I think that’s rather disrespectful to religion. It subordinates a religious principle to a political strategy.
Let politicians make public speeches and pronouncements in accordance with political necessity and strategic goals. Let religious leaders lead public prayers in accordance with the dictates of the faith that they follow. But don’t mix the two.
sb: You don’t have to make that particular prayer every time you pray, either.
I know that. But in a speech where you’re specifically talking about your enemies and the bad stuff they did to you, and explicitly praying for the victims of your enemies, isn’t it especially appropriate, relevant, and desirable to pray for the enemies too?
Most people of faith here seem to agree that it is, and that they themselves frequently do pray for victims and perpetrators together, both in private orisons and in public religious services.
So if a politician avoids doing that in a public prayer in an official speech, just because it might result in bad PR, then as I said, that seems to be subordinating religious duty to political strategy.
Some of us feel that public prayer itself encourages us to be the bad guys. We feel that prayer is best done in private, with the doors closed, and our mind and hearts given over entirely to our Lord.
So, public knowledge of our prayers, and their content is not “required by our religion” at all, in fact, if anything it is discouraged by my religion. Of course, I am not an expert on Christian Doctrine, and have no authority to make judgements on what is required of you by the Lord.
I try to require of myself that my actions are expressions of the love the Lord has for every man. I fall short of that, pretty much routinely, but that is a failing of my character, not of the Lord.
Tris
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi ~
Tris: *So, public knowledge of our prayers, and their content is not “required by our religion” at all, in fact, if anything it is discouraged by my religion. *
Well, that sounds like another reason to leave prayer out of political speeches entirely.
My objection to public prayer by elected officials is constitutional, not religious. I didn’t elect them to speak to God, but rather to accomplish civil duties. I don’t accept the spiritual leadership of those who claim to speak on my behalf to the Lord.
I would not prescribe to them the content of their prayers, any more that I would accept such “guidance” from them, or from Internet bulletin boards. Prayer is not proper subject material for political speeches by anyone. However, I find the overwhelming desire to attribute spiritual leadership to political office holders a very troubling characteristic of our popularity driven social structure. I think it reflects the intellectual sloth, and absence of spiritual integrity that underlies most of our country’s problems.
Tris
If you are just following someone else, you already are lost. They might know where they want you to be, but you’re just lost.
Sure, but for an awful lot of politicians, everything is subordinated to political strategy. Public proclamation of faith is a political strategy, and naturally it’s going to be a version that pays attention to PR. That’s politics for you. I would not use politicians’ actions as a good indication of what people of faith should do, or are doing.
The true sucess of your enemies (and your self) would be that they have a change of heart,and do not want to harm others. The Christian Bible quotes Jesus as telling his followers,do good to those who would harm you, turn the other cheek, he who lives by the sword dies by the sword , etc. Most of Jesus’s teachings were common sense. Perhaps if they heard a huge public prayer that was in good taste that would help toward their understanding that no one wished them harm. If prayer really works then that would help non-believers to see the power of prayer,as many claim it does.
