Paul Harvey says: -
"I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December.
I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.
So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
"But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect-somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.
If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome...
"But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized.. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds.. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer! Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep.
Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well..........just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. it's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want.. it is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray.. you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right.. but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away . we are fighting back.. and we WILL WIN!
God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him... God bless America, despite all her faults, she is still the greatest nation of all...
God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God...
May 2005 be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions.

sounds sensible to me

i'm not a christian at all, but agree with this 100%. i'm in the minority. there are certain things you should expect when you behave in the minority. i have no problem listening to prayer before a ball game or before a meal. i respect the right of those that do believe. i just wish more folks would do the same.


let them pray. there's no good reason not to.

The problem with common sense is that it isn't really all that common ...

okokok, so where's the "rest of the story?"

Yeaup. My dad used to say if common sense were common, more people would have it.

When I was younger, I went to live in South America. I had saved up for quite awhile. I planned on living there for a few years. After about six months, I was sick of it all. I hated the country, the people, the language...all of it. I kept asking myself, "Why can't they be more like us? In America, everything is great and if they just tried to be more like us, then this place would be much better." Then it hit me...they AREN'T like us! They have their own culture, language, customs, food, and way of life and isn't that why I went down there in the first place? To experience something different? I began to reevaluate my way of thinking and began to appreciate who those people were and what they had to offer. I learned spanish so well that I could listen to three or four conversations at once and understand them all, I began craving the food and the tea that followed every meal (Mate...its a way of life)I began to love soccer and the bus system and the beautiful artwork of the city and all of the wonderful things that the country produced. I still longed for some of the things in America (pasteurized milk for example) but I realized that if America was there, that I wouldn't be having such a wonderful time. After a few years, people began to think that I was a native and would treat me as such. I was a part of what made the country great.

Now, why is it that those who come here cannot do the same? Why must we bend to their every whim and make them feel comfortable? We have a culture here that is founded on Christianity, hard work, freedom, and a dream that anyone with the will and hard work can succeed. All it takes is for those who are new to the country to accept this new place as their home and take what America gives them...the good and the bad. They will always have some part of them that is their place of origin...just as I was always still an American. This country was founded by people who came here to worship as they chose to. They left religious persecution and came here to worship freely. Certainly there are many people who don't believe in Christianity and its principles, but this country was founded on the right to worship freely. It was as important to the founding fathers as free speech. Just because there is no state religion, does not mean that religion cannot be found anywhere within the state. I don't understand why it is that those who aren't Christian feel that any influence of religion in any place is somehow damaging to their lives. If a jewish man wanted to say a prayer for the safety of me or my family, I would not begrudge him for it or tell him that this is offensive to me...and I would feel the same about anyone. As long as I am not being forced to believe or worship in a particular way that is not in line with my beliefs then where is the harm in that? As it is...I feel as if we are moving in that direction. Those in charge are so afraid of offending anyone, that the state religion is becoming atheistic. When the state chooses to ignore, or cast out religion...are they not choosing a particular belief?


Sorry...I went on a little long, but I was thinking about these kind of things over a cup of coffee and a good cigar

That's a good way to think about things!

Here Here, too many Christians are doing just the opposite of what was said, standing idly by watching their rights slowly eroded in the name of "equality for all". If you care at all about your community, your country, and your right to worship, be heard. Get involved in a well-run Church. Call your congressmen about important issues, they do listen.

Thruson, glad you posted this as I feel better already.

That's right, it's O.K. for homosexuals, atheists and liberal's for that matter to fight for what they believe but have a Christian do the same thing and they tri to shut you up by suing you. Seems like a double standard to me. I think it bothers them they may be accountable to a creator someday , they just want us to go away so they don't have to think about it.

Well if atheism is a religion, then I guess baldness is a hair color. The problem isn't with Christians praying. Pray, get callouses on your knees, I don't think anyone really cares. Three main threats many feel uncomfortable with from large, well funded, activist Christian groups are as follows:

I. Woman's right to choose: Christain groups are eagerly and effectively chipping away at this federal law. Let me tell you, if you weren't already aware of it, sometimes people get pregnant, it's the way the machine works. It's a beautiful thing, most times. Sometimes, in an imperfect world however ... . The day angry men can strip the rights from a scared young girl in the name of their god, well that's basically American Taliban, and should make thinking people a bit jittery if these people get their way. This is America not Iran.

II. Discrimination against homosexuals: Judging from the glorious red state victory march, and DapperDan's posts, this minority group is no where near being accorded their full civil rights like other citizens in America. I personally find this a particularly sad state of affairs. Why should some stranger, maybe even someone trying to raise a family (yep, gay chicks get knocked up too), be penalized or have less rights under the law than I do? Think if the majority were gays and they were telling you that being heterosexual was perverted and sought to take your rights away? That's just plain creepy in my book. Bigotry, by whatever name you want to call it, smells equally bad each and everytime.

III. The growing and well funded attempt to teach divine creation in science classes in American public education: Many of the arguments creationists disseminate, as are often forwarded on this board (violation of the thermodynamical laws, no missing links, 10,000 year old earth) are not only false, but knowingly so. I don't know about you, but I think lying to kids sucks. I have four kids myself and try to make every effort to help see that they're getting accurate and honest information from both their schools and the media (which we know often isn't the case). They deserve the best we can offer them, and that includes the truth about who we are and where we came from as a species. Lying to them is a dishonorable act in my view, certainly not a virtuous one.

So pray, worship at your leisure, and marvel at the amazing world we have the privilige of being in. It's a great place, worthy or praise and admiration. But there's a dark side to it too, which we can improve upon. One way to do so is to be wary of and fight against concerted efforts to strip young women and homosexuals of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom, equality, and justice. We can also resist the spread of knowingly false information to the young people of this country. Ban prayer? No. Use common sense? Yes.

Right, while the ACLU protects and defends groups like NAMBLA!??

I am with Dapper on this subject of rights!

Charlie

Charlie, name one case where the ACLU defends pedophilia. Giving all LAW ABIDING citizens their rights under the constitution is not the same as supporting pedophiles. BTW, the vast majority of child abuse is commited by heterosexuals, not homosexuals.

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200402270920.asp 

http://www.enyart.com/features/writings/homoadopt.shtml 

http://armor.typepad.com/bastardsword/2004/06/aclu_defends_te.html 

Did you even type this in "google" or "Yahoo" before you posted?

Ok, I read your cites. The first one describes a dastardly murder by a Charles Jaynes and a Salvatore Sicari, not NAMBLA. As the author points out, the classic novel 'Lolita' also describes sex with minors. In our society we punish the perpetrators of crimes. The Catholic church certainly ranks right up there with NAMBLA in orchestrating sex with minors, I don't hear anyone calling for their heads. The ACLU would probably defend the Pope under similar circumstances, and for equally valid legal reasons.

The second site you posted gave a '444 error - document not listed,' but did lead to articles by the website's author, Bob Enyart, who had posted an 'abortion clock' listing the number of people 'murdered by abortionists.' Aye yaye aye.

The third site discussed the ACLU's defending nude sumnmer camps for teens. You can draw your own conclusions about that one.

IMO, the PREMISE of the ACLU is a good one but actuality falls well short of the premise ... they've become little more than a liberal activist vehicle

Well if atheism is a religion, then I guess baldness is a hair color. The problem isn't with Christians praying. Pray, get callouses on your knees, I don't think anyone really cares. Three main threats many feel uncomfortable with from large, well funded, activist Christian groups are as follows:

I. Woman's right to choose: Christain groups are eagerly and effectively chipping away at this federal law. Let me tell you, if you weren't already aware of it, sometimes people get pregnant, it's the way the machine works. It's a beautiful thing, most times. Sometimes, in an imperfect world however ... . The day angry men can strip the rights from a scared young girl in the name of their god, well that's basically American Taliban, and should make thinking people a bit jittery if these people get their way. This is America not Iran.
-Nor is it a monarchy. The will of the people should be the law of the land, and if the will of the people is that murdering unborn children should be a crime, so be it! I was adopted at the age of 4 weeks in 1959. Abortion was illegal then. If it wasn't, I might not be here.

II. Discrimination against homosexuals: Judging from the glorious red state victory march, and DapperDan's posts, this minority group is no where near being accorded their full civil rights like other citizens in America. I personally find this a particularly sad state of affairs. Why should some stranger, maybe even someone trying to raise a family (yep, gay chicks get knocked up too), be penalized or have less rights under the law than I do? Think if the majority were gays and they were telling you that being heterosexual was perverted and sought to take your rights away? That's just plain creepy in my book. Bigotry, by whatever name you want to call it, smells equally bad each and everytime.
-I don't discriminate against homosexuals, but if I run around advertising my preference for women, I'd get they living hell sued out of me for sexual harrassment. If I can't be "openly heterosexual",why should someone be protected from being "openly homosexual"?

III. The growing and well funded attempt to teach divine creation in science classes in American public education: Many of the arguments creationists disseminate, as are often forwarded on this board (violation of the thermodynamical laws, no missing links, 10,000 year old earth) are not only false, but knowingly so. I don't know about you, but I think lying to kids sucks. I have four kids myself and try to make every effort to help see that they're getting accurate and honest information from both their schools and the media (which we know often isn't the case). They deserve the best we can offer them, and that includes the truth about who we are and where we came from as a species. Lying to them is a dishonorable act in my view, certainly not a virtuous one.
-So, the theory (and it IS still a theory) of Evolution being taught as a FACT, to the exclusion of any other theories is any more honest?

So pray, worship at your leisure, and marvel at the amazing world we have the privilige of being in. It's a great place, worthy or praise and admiration. But there's a dark side to it too, which we can improve upon. One way to do so is to be wary of and fight against concerted efforts to strip young women and homosexuals of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom, equality, and justice. We can also resist the spread of knowingly false information to the young people of this country. Ban prayer? No. Use common sense? Yes.
-except that when someone tries to pray at a public gathering, say a football game, or a commencement, the ACLU gets all up in arms and ties up the supplicant in court for years! All we are asking is the same voice granted to anyone else, the same opportunity to make our case, the same opportunity to have the laws of the land reflect our values as anyone else. If the majority does not agree, we don't get our way, but if the majority does see the value in moral standards, then we should set those standards. This is the heart of a representative democracy! Do you have a major issue with that?

The heart of a representative democracy is for sexual harrassment? yea I do you have a major issue with that, is that a problem?

I. Woman's right to choose:


http://www.roenomore.org/crossing_over/welcome.html 


Guess she had a guilty conscience.



II. Discrimination against homosexuals:



http://exodus.to/default2.asp 


A destructive life style, to say the least.


How I feel about Gay's. Past post of mine on James McGreevey. I have gay friends.

I just got of the exercise bike and watching the news when James McGreevey Gov. New Jersey came on with his farewell speech. It amazed me because twice he quoted from the Bible. First psalm 51:10 ,Create in me a clean heart O'God and renew a right sprit with in me. This is David speaking to God repenting and turning away from his sin. McGrieveme then quoted Jesus in John 8:32. You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Jesus talking about being in bondage to sin. McGrieveme uses this as being set free as coming out gay. He had a commitment before God to his wife and is now leaving her so he can live his life of debauchery. He is for gay marriage . HELLO! Marriage was set up by God for a man and a woman not Adam and Steve. I have gay friends, I like them but disagree with there life style it is a choice, sex is a choice. Give them same partner status but don't call it marriage and don't take and use the Bible out of context to justify your sin. Before I got married and became a Christian I lived a life of heterosexual debauchery and I call that sin no worse than homosexuality as sin goes but I call it sin and make no excuses for it.

Well that's a great story, but the heterosexual didn't have their civil rights taken from them as a result of their choices in that regard, for better or worse. The odious thing about discrimination against homosexuals is that it carries real legal and financial consequences, if that were not the case, who would really care anymore. Equal rights under the law baby, that's what it's all about here; says so right in the preamble of the US constitution ... "We the people of the United States, in order to ... establish justice ... and secure the blessings of liberty ... establish this constitution."