We Need God!

Nonsense. True prayer is always personal, intimate, and silent. Some people might feel the need for God, many don't.

I agree ... the question is which prayer, which God?

God is no moral authority. If we were to follow the morals of the bible, we'd be even more screwed up. The fact is, if societal morals didn't exist without religion, we wouldn't be able to choose which parts of scripture are to be followed. The tale of the good samaritan adheres to moral standards. The numerous tales of child sacrifice, however, are regarded as parables because they are horrific. God doesn't dictate morality; only fear and subjegation.

We need a seperation of church and state more than ever now. It seems like the kids who pull crap like shooting other kids, need parents who know how to parent. Good dialog and healthy friendships help kids make better chaices...heck they help me make better choices.

Ya, we gotta bring prayer and religion back to schools. Because no one has ever heard of a religious person who was violent or hateful. And God won't listen to prayers if they are silent or take place before or after school. Besides, prayer only works when you're praying. You can't, like, pray on Sunday for a violence-free week at school, because God is doddering, and He forgets. Boy, I thank God I'm not like other people!

That argument is so wrong in so many ways I am not even sure which way to approach it. But lets start with these.


#1. (The Reasonable Response) If parents want their children to pray in school, there are plenty of choices in Catholic Parochial schools, Hebrew schools, Muslim Schools and Christian Sunday school instruction for them to choose from. I would suggest that they start there.


#2. (The Sarcastic Response) I tell you what... We can stop regular public school classes to pray if in exchange we can stop Church services for English Lit, Algebra and DodgeBall.

#3. (The Historical Response) It is important to remember that the "Wall of Separation between Church and State" was put in to place primary to protect the Church from the State. Thomas Jefferson, remember him... he wrote the Declaration of Independence, and was our 3rd president, he wrote to Church leaders in 1808: Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties." The pilgrims also had some issues with religion being free from governmental interference and vice versa.

#4 (The Biblical Response) Remember that Jesus said when asked whether his followers should pay taxes... (Paraphrasing) "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars, and unto God that which is his" This statement could be used as an argument to keep the governments interests separate from the interests of faith.

Finally it should be noted that for most truly faithful people, prayer is personal. If you want to pray privately to yourself in school there lots of opportunities to do that "privately". Find a quiet spot either in your school or in your mind, close your eyes and pray. After all, it could be argued that prayer is just another form of quiet meditation. So just find your lucky star or 4 leaf clover or rabbits foot or whatever works for you and go for it. Chances are if you find enough people you can start your own wishful thinking group and start your own religion....Think of the Tax benefits!

Dude, Phidippides was being sarcastic (very well I might add). I should hope no one would actually say that. Very definitive response though.

Actually, I was responding to the original video post. I did like Phidippides response however.

Geez, guys, you're making me blush! We ex-Catholic, ex-fundamentalist agnostics do tend to have a bit of an edge to our responses to theists, especially of the Christian variety. And jamesd, I love your idea of interrupting church services for dodge ball. If there is one thing that could get me back through the door of a church, that would be it. I'd even bring my own ball.

FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE!!!!

You and Darino and Stephanielh ALL have the same cameras, shakey, handheld. Same audio quality and background noise.

I'm willing to bet you're all planted by Current TV. Am I right? Can you be honest? Is this what you really believe? How much are they paying you.

FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Abustle:

Just out of curiousity, whose "god" exactly do you want in schools?

I am betting, and this is just a wild guess, that you want children in schools praying to a christian god of some sort.

If legislators, school boards, or others tried to enforce your children to pray to some other god, how would you feel about that?

Let's say, just for instance, if it was one of these:

Wiccan?
Pagan?
Shinto?
Judaism?
Islamic?
Rastafarian?
Taoism?
Shamanism?
Hindu?
Buddhism?

Who gets to choose?

It's explicit in the Bill of Rights, the 1st Amendment says, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."

Therefore, while you are free to exercise your religious beliefs at home, under a tree, in the car, in a cave, in a church, or wherever you wish, you are prohibited for imposing those beliefs on others in a public school.

Who's to say that there's only one god in the universe? Oh, I'm sorry I should capitalize that, since, my capitalization of the word "god" would mean a religious deity not of the English language. There isn't just one RELIGION in the world, let alone in America. We even speak many languages and have many cultures. We were founded on religious freedom, a separation of church and state. We were known as a melting pot, a combination of many. If an Indian man wants to pray to his Hindu gods, a Buddhist wanting to meditate, or a British woman wanting to pray to God, who's to stop them? Not I, not you, nor the government. In my opinion, I believe that no religion is right or wrong, it is a matter of person. Whatever it is they want to believe in. You can't force a person to believe in any religion or even have a religion, if anything, you should let them chose what they want to believe in. Whatever they want to base their life upon, or whatever they want to chose as an afterlife. Prayer, in itself, shouldn't be mandated, let alone be BANNED. The American government has no right to enforce prayer or even enforce no prayer.

America must find her roots again in the Creators blessings. Because we have removed God from schools, government, and the public arena, people are really lost and don't know where to turn for answers. The fact that this country condones torture is symptomatic of how lost we are as a people. We need to return to God into every facet of our lives to regain our center.

We need to focus less on god and more on each other. Get to know those around you. Learn from diverse groups. Pray to your god for support but do force it on others.