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Apr. 2, 2007 If you believe that Jesus was a real person and that he was God, and if you believe that the New Testament is inerrant, I don't see how you can possibly think that Jesus, were he alive today, would be an opponent of outlawing prayer in public schools. Quite the contrary, he discountenanced or forbade such prayer, if Matthew 6: 5 and 6 are to be taken seriously. Apparently, he would have agreed whole-heartedly with the ban on school prayer: Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Though Jesus did not specify 'public schools', I think the spirit of his words was that God responds only to sincere prayer, prayer of the kind that someone makes in absolute privacy. He is contemptuous of public prayer, because the petitioners may be partly or wholly influenced by the fact that they know others can see them. Praying in public is like showing off to impress one's peers. Surely, if you do believe in Jesus, God and the Bible, you would have to agree. God knows what you think, what you do and what you need, if there is a God. So why would you have to make flamboyant public appearances, as if letting your colleagues see you showing off somehow makes God more appreciative? From the above words, it would be hard to say whether Jesus was just giving recommendations on how one should go about praying or whether his comments should be interpreted as commandments, but, in either case, if I were a serious Christian, I surely would prefer to comply with Jesus' wishes than the wishes of Congressmen, judges, television evangelists and others that make so much noise about prayer. Even for a non-Christian, the true meaning of the above sentiment is obvious. Would you rather have a friend who is constantly professing eternal friendship and loyalty to you when other people can hear and praise him, but who deceives and disappoints you at every juncture, or would you rather have a friend who never professes friendship and loyalty publicly, but always has your best interests at heart and helps you in your endeavors? And, of course, if you don't believe in Jesus, God or the Bible, prayer makes no sense at all. So why promote it? Instead of giving me arguments about why prayer should be allowed in public schools, give me an example of prayer at work. I don't mean relate an anecdote about something you claimed happened years ago. Instead of that, choose a worthwhile beneficiary of your prayers, an invalid or pauper whom we can contact, and show me what you can accomplish through prayer to alleviate his or her plight. If you can do that, I'll be in there with you, rallying for prayers in school. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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