Comments on: School Prayer Service Today In Jay; Everyone Invited

By: Darryl

Darryl — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:36:21 +0000

to “religions” if the service was inclusive, then that wasn’t spelled out, but from the sound of it, it wasn’t for it was strictly a Christain service and within the eyes of courts, that will be the issue the residents of Jay will have to address. Would other religions have been accepted? It is a tough question.

To ???; the issue with sects is that each has differing views, some of which can effect public policy if they were influential. Such as the role of women in matters of authority, some churches allow women leadership roles and some do not. To an extreme, some Christians take seriously the end of Mark on handling snakes (serpents) and drinking poison to show their commitment. The reason there are so many denominations is there are that many variations of belief. It is a point that the forefathers understood well and with the history of the influences of the church, especially during its darkest hour of the Inquisitions, they knew the problems that could occur. Look at Britain and the problems relating to the Irish; a conflict between Protestants and Catholics. That is why we do not have a religion established within the framework of our government; so each person can worship as they see fit, within whatever denomination or religion they choose.

By: ???

??? — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:55:07 +0000

Darryl, you might want to check the definition of Christianity. As far as I know, all of the “sects” you mentioned follow the teachings of Christ–perhaps with different doctrines, but Christian nonetheless. Not one particular denomination is exclusive to Christianity.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:12:20 +0000

It took one person to throw prayer out of our schools. We as Christians all need to stand together and fight for our contitutional rights back. Its time we all break the denominational barriers and join together as a body of Christ and take back what the enemy has stolen. I hear all the time about different occurances within different schools about holidays,programs etc. But I have seen the belivers sit back and grumble over what has been taken with no action in return to fight for what we as believers stand for. Praise God, the Jay community is pulling together for prayer for our schools. I know that everyone has different religions, but when the final judgement day comes, and we are standing in heaven, we arent going to be seperated in groups by different religons, we are going to be praising God all together as one body before the throne of God.

By: Religion(s)

Religion(s) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:06:27 +0000

In response to Darryl: other religions are more than welcome to have their own meeting of prayer if they would like. No one is saying that they can’t. Just because a group of Christians are praying doesn’t mean that they are being discriminating. NOT allowing a community to gather on a volunteer basis to pray IS discriminating…why should these individuals have to accomodate to other people? That is ridiculous..that is like saying we can’t pray at a restaurant without asking everyone around us whether or not they would be offended. If all the other religions want to rent the field and pray for the students or for anything else they wish, then more power to them. I am sure they wouldn’t invite the Christians to come and pray with them….everyone is free to go if they wish; they aren’t giving a test on Christianity before you can go.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:12:27 +0000

{“We want to encourage these kids to stand in their faith,” said Pastor Mitch Herring of Poplar Dell Baptist Church} and {“We are going to come as Christians, not any denomination, and offer prayer that our students will serve the Lord,” said Pastor Herring.}

The issue the Jay community will have to address sooner or later in this situation is whether or not they are accommodating other religions. Would they accept someone who is Jewish or Hindu? What about a Diest, which is what some of the founding fathers were? The segments above of Pastor Herring’s comments show it is only Christianity that is being supported and that is where the ACLU will have the foundation of its argument. True religious freedom would be inclusive of any religion, or a non-belief. That is going to be hard for Jay, or any of the communities to accept, but it is the basic principal of the founding fathers in the Consitution when it was established no religion would be established within government to allow true freedom of religion.

For those who say we should adopt Christianity as our national religion, that would be a violation of the Constitution and brings up another question; which sect? Southern Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, or maybe a newer religious sect such as Mormons????

Tough questions for an issue that people take on a personal level, but if you stand back and ask is this accommodating of religions other than my own, and would it be accommodating to you if it was done in by a rabbi or leader of another religion? Answer ‘yes’ and then you have maintained the prinicpal of true freedom of religious practice within our Constitution.

Good luck with the debate.

By: Ole' Willie

Ole' Willie — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:24:29 +0000

Way to go and AMEN!