christian prayer
christians, why do some of you want God on the money, and christian prayer in schools?
When I read the bible, it tells me that God made it clear that he wanted no empty gestures and vain pieties, but righteousness and justice. Which are mumbled prayers assigned by the state, and money named "God," more likely to be?
Interesting question. I think you made a valid point about the impact of such "empty gestures" on God. However, I think you're discounting the impact they might have on human beings.
For one, putting "in God we trust" on our money allows believers to use the security offered by money as a surrogate for the security offered by God. Without God's name on the money, then a believer would be forced to accept that they are putting their trust in the government alone when they put their trust in the money it creates.
For some believers, putting God's name on their money serves as a reminder that all the money they have is a gift from God. That makes it a lot easier for them to give a lot more of that money back to him since his name is already on it!
Personally, I don't care if they remove "In God We Trust" from the money because I think it's pretty clear that as a nation, we stopped trusting God a long time ago. It isn't an "empty gesture" as far as I'm concerned, it is instead a deliberate misrepresentation of the truth.
As for prayer in school, there are some demonstrated benefits in terms of behavior and respect for authority associated with having prayers in school. Of course, those prayers don't have to be "Christian" to have the same positive impact...it's just that something about acknowledging a higher authority that's watching your every move tends to have a positive impact on the behavior of children. Prayers to Santa Claus would have the same type of positive impact.
However, as a Christian, I believe that praying to God can and does have additional positive benefits above and beyond the psychological benefits of acknowledging a "higher power" with the authority to reward or punish. In that respect, it doesn't matter that it is an "empty gesture" for some or even many of the people participating in the event. The prayers of the believers in the group can influence the way God involves himself in what happens at that school. Yes, they can pray alone, but they are children and a reminder in the form of a "prayer time" in school may increase the number of children sincerely asking God to intervene in their school.
I am in favor of returning prayer to public schools...not the forced recitation of some Christian prayer that some (perhaps many) schools used at one time (and some private schools still use today), but setting aside time for remind children to pray about their educational experiences. We don't have to tell them what prayer to say...it could even be a cultural learning experience by allowing children of different faiths (and no faith) to share what they believe in a way that ties behavior and learning at school into their beliefs!
It seems a shame that we don't find positive, productive ways to retain the practical benefits of prayer in school instead of avoiding conflict by eliminating it to satisfy a relatively small percentage of the population. Seems a case of "throwing out the baby with the bath water". It is difficult enough to "harness the energies" (to put it nicely) of a group of young children but by eliminating prayer in school, we lose the opportunity to benefit from the religious-related discipline and respect for authority that many of those children are learning at home.
It may not benefit all children but it doesn't harm them to take a minute or two each day to remind the children that do believe to ask God to be with them that day. If nothing else, the act of publicly stating your beliefs and linking them to your behavior creates peer accountability that should reduce behavior problems. A student that prays, "God help me to obey my teacher today" is gong to get "called out" by most of the class if he or she disobeys later in the day!
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Having trouble selling your home? It may be because you haven't buried a statue of St. Joseph in your front yard! Legend has it, that if you bury him upside down near the "For Sale" sign in the back yard or in a flower pot, and then say a little prayer (one is included with your purchase for a little guidance), then your house will sell! Couldn't hurt, right? Also included with your underground realtor: story of St... |
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