Have you heard about the high school girl that had a successful lawsuit to get a prayer removed from the wall of the auditorium of her school where it has hung for the last 49 years? Jessica is a 16 year-old atheist. She was raised Roman Catholic but then quit believing when God didn’t answer a prayer she made for her sick mother. A judge just recently ruled in her favor stating that the prayer hanging in Cranston High School West was unconstitutional and had to be removed. It has caused an uproar in this heavily Roman Catholic, Rhode Island community and on-line as people on both sides lob explosive comments back and forth at each other.
I think it is sad that anyone would be offended and demand that such an innocuous prayer be removed. Forty-nine years ago...
I think it is sad that anyone would be offended and demand that such an innocuous prayer be removed. Forty-nine years ago...
...that prayer was written by a seventh-grade student and the graduating senior class had it made into a banner and presented it to the school. Remove the address to “Our Heavenly Father” at the beginning and the word, “Amen” at the end and it would be a perfectly acceptable code of moral behavior that anyone would wish students would follow. My point is that the school never paid a penny for this banner—no taxpayer funds were used to promote religion. It is a part of the history of this school for five decades. Is it really worth all of this fuss?
While I personally don’t have a problem with the sign, I can understand why someone else might not like it hanging there. Although the vast majority of Americans are religious to some degree there is a minority that is not. I can understand why they would want to minimize things that they find offensive in the world around them. I certainly don’t want students in school exposed to things that I find offensive. But I also recognize that in our society, there is absolutely no way to remove everything that anyone might find to be offensive. As we have found, if you remove something that is offensive to you, you have probably offended someone else by removing it. It is a classic “no win” situation.
With that understanding, I recognize that you cannot have everything exactly the way you would want it—because others have different desires and they want it their way too. I can’t blame them and I know it will not always go my way, nor will it always go their way. We all have to learn to live with the tension because we live in a diverse culture. And all indications are that we will become increasingly more diversified as time passes making it harder to please everyone. I would also add that believers should get use to it because as we draw closer to the end times, we will face an increasingly more hostile society.
Here is what really makes me sad about the whole episode—the lack of civility and common courtesy that has been displayed by the so called believers. Many of the comments are mean-spirited; some are downright nasty as people attack her character rather than her position. This young woman has received death threats! Death threats! WOW!
I’ve been reading the book of 1 Peter recently. Christians were being persecuted throughout the Roman Empire, so Peter wrote to them to encourage them and to remind them how they should live in response to their situation. Here are some of the things he shared which are appropriate for us to remember as well:
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world,to abstain from sinful desires,which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deedsand glorify Godon the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authorityinstituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrongand to commend those who do right. For it is God's willthat by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men,but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers,fear God, honor the king. 1Peter 2:11-17
As I think about the events of our days, I want to remember to treat everyone with respect even if I disagree with their beliefs or their actions. While I believe that we each have a right to our own opinion, I must never attack the other person who disagrees with me; rather I must respectfully focus my argument against his or her position. Often I will lose and things will not go my way. I must accept losing with grace and recognize that it is part of living in a pluralistic society. As a citizen of this nation, I have a right to voice my opinion and I have a right to work to change the things I believe are unfair or unjust. But ultimately, I know that I am a citizen of heaven. I’ll always be a stranger here and at times I will feel like I don’t belong. That’s okay. That’s to be expected. I will choose to live my life as best I can while remembering that God will call me home some day. Until that day, I will live my life with integrity and I will strive to be a good member of society. I’ll pray for those who disagree with me and seek to understand them. I will strive never to give offense whenever possible; but I reserve the right to “speak the truth in love.”
Here’s the prayer that has been ordered to be removed from the walls of the auditorium:
Our Heavenly Father,
Grant us each day the desire to do our best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically, to be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers, to be honest with ourselves as well as with others. Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win, teach us the value of true friendship, help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.
Amen.
While I personally don’t have a problem with the sign, I can understand why someone else might not like it hanging there. Although the vast majority of Americans are religious to some degree there is a minority that is not. I can understand why they would want to minimize things that they find offensive in the world around them. I certainly don’t want students in school exposed to things that I find offensive. But I also recognize that in our society, there is absolutely no way to remove everything that anyone might find to be offensive. As we have found, if you remove something that is offensive to you, you have probably offended someone else by removing it. It is a classic “no win” situation.
With that understanding, I recognize that you cannot have everything exactly the way you would want it—because others have different desires and they want it their way too. I can’t blame them and I know it will not always go my way, nor will it always go their way. We all have to learn to live with the tension because we live in a diverse culture. And all indications are that we will become increasingly more diversified as time passes making it harder to please everyone. I would also add that believers should get use to it because as we draw closer to the end times, we will face an increasingly more hostile society.
Here is what really makes me sad about the whole episode—the lack of civility and common courtesy that has been displayed by the so called believers. Many of the comments are mean-spirited; some are downright nasty as people attack her character rather than her position. This young woman has received death threats! Death threats! WOW!
I’ve been reading the book of 1 Peter recently. Christians were being persecuted throughout the Roman Empire, so Peter wrote to them to encourage them and to remind them how they should live in response to their situation. Here are some of the things he shared which are appropriate for us to remember as well:
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world,to abstain from sinful desires,which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deedsand glorify Godon the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authorityinstituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrongand to commend those who do right. For it is God's willthat by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men,but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers,fear God, honor the king. 1Peter 2:11-17
As I think about the events of our days, I want to remember to treat everyone with respect even if I disagree with their beliefs or their actions. While I believe that we each have a right to our own opinion, I must never attack the other person who disagrees with me; rather I must respectfully focus my argument against his or her position. Often I will lose and things will not go my way. I must accept losing with grace and recognize that it is part of living in a pluralistic society. As a citizen of this nation, I have a right to voice my opinion and I have a right to work to change the things I believe are unfair or unjust. But ultimately, I know that I am a citizen of heaven. I’ll always be a stranger here and at times I will feel like I don’t belong. That’s okay. That’s to be expected. I will choose to live my life as best I can while remembering that God will call me home some day. Until that day, I will live my life with integrity and I will strive to be a good member of society. I’ll pray for those who disagree with me and seek to understand them. I will strive never to give offense whenever possible; but I reserve the right to “speak the truth in love.”
Here’s the prayer that has been ordered to be removed from the walls of the auditorium:
Our Heavenly Father,
Grant us each day the desire to do our best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically, to be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers, to be honest with ourselves as well as with others. Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win, teach us the value of true friendship, help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.
Amen.
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