TX: Prayer event exclusionary, some say (only Christian pastors allowed)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/050505dnmetdayofprayer.77085e4c.html

People of all religious faiths are invited to gather today at Plano City Hall for National Day of Prayer, but to the frustration of some, this year's annual event will have a decidedly Christian cast.

Established by Congress in 1952, prayer day "transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds" for the country's good, according to the event's national task force. And for the last two years, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Bahais and others have directed the day's prayers at Plano's City Hall.

This year, Mr. Frady beat them to the punch, reserving the City Council chambers for a noon event led solely by Christian pastors – as the task force would have it.

Religion in Plano is predominantly Christian, the pastor said. And other faiths, he said, have had a disproportionate influence on past prayer day events. Not this year, Mr. Frady said. "I would love for everyone to join us in a synergy of prayer, but I'm not going to give up the microphone," he said.

[Roland99]

1. He's going to filibuster Prayer Day?

wow.

[msongs]

2. christian taliban eom

[strategery blunder]

3. So, what denominations qualify as "Christian?"

This is gonna get really messy.

Lemme guess...

No Catholics:eyes:
No Quakers:eyes:
No Unitarians:eyes:
Hell, let's just make it easy and make it Southern Baptists only.:eyes:

[kainah]

4. and no Mormons, either

which will come as quite a shock to the LDS faction which consider themselves some of the best conservatives around.

Really, though, this is so outrageous. Yet I cheer these kinds of events. I believe it is exposing their extremism and the vast majority of people have no idea what all this noise is about. They need to find out and find out fast, if we have any chance of preventing the Christian Nation from being declared.

[rainbow4321]

6. That pretty much covers it..

This is the same city in which this speaker "defined" Christian...I'm thinking this Day of Prayer will basically be the local Prestonwood Baptist Church just relocating it's services to our City Hall.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14382264&BRD=1426&PAG=461&dept_id=528208&rfi=6

Until the media stops portraying people of faith as "crackpots and dangerous zealots no different from fanatics who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center...the fight is not over," he said

Criswell said only one person approached him stating that his speech was offensive to her faith.

"I, of course asked, if her indignation is limited to Christian speakers or she would also complain if the speaker had been open about being Catholic, Jewish, Muslim or atheist," he said in an e-mail. "It was not a pretty moment, but I made my point. It seems these days it is perfectly fine to be anything except openly Christian, and in fact very much in vogue to attack Christians. What a shame that "tolerance" can be so selective."

[FloridaPat]

10. So what is the difference between Bushite people of faith and

the Islamic nuts? In 3 years I don't see a difference except one has the oil and the other doesn't but drives big SUVs.

[reprobate]

31. The difference is that Bushite nuts have killed far more people than the

Islamic fundamentalists have.

Add up 9/11, all the suiciee bombers, etc, and you still don't come close to the 100k-200k we have killed in Iraq so far.

[strategery blunder]

13. When I'm not in an internet flamewar...

the only people who attack my Christianity are Christians.:eyes:

Yep, that says it all.

[daleo]

15. So Catholics aren't Christians then, according to this guy. n/t

[Julius Civitatus]

26. American Xtian fundamentalists don't consider Catholics to be Christian

which is truly disturbing. They actually don't consider anyone else to be "real Christians" except their own "born again" selves.

Very convenient their exclusivity.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Ugh

That man is so sheltered! So he thinks he's being persecuted? Try being a Jew asshole! I'm not one but all you have to do is look at history and how the Jewish people have been treated over time. They've been so mistreated more then anybody in any religious history. AH!

[reprobate]

32. And America has a long history of Anti-Semitism. As a child,

50 yrs ago, I was chased down the streets of NY by some bigger kids who kept accusing me of being the one who killed Christ. I tried to tell them I haven't killed anyone, but they were christians they claimed, and wouldn't listen. And so it goes on today.

[bluestateguy]

21. Hm

A co-worker at my mother's place of work said she could not vote for Kerry because he was not a Christian. Kerry, like my mother, is Catholic. She had to be held back from just going off on this woman.

[Bozita]

5. Shut up! ... We gather here respectful of all rel ...Hey, shut up!

[Tux]

7. Er

"I would love for everyone to join us in a synergy of prayer, but I'm not going to give up the microphone," he said.

Sounds like someone needs a time out or a nap.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Really

His mother didn't teach him manners or how to share. You're only welcome if you share his idealistic faith. And people wonder why we don't have world peace. :eyes:

[KansDem]

34. "but I'm not going to give up the microphone..."

So, bring you're own microphone. A bullhorn. Who's going to stop you; if divisiveness is what they want, then be divisive.


OK! We've heard from you, now you're going to hear FROM ME!!!

[Javaman]

8. What a disrespectful asshole.

I am speechless at this obvious use of his religious beliefs to hide his bigoted view.

[rainbow4321]

9. Rev. Roy Frady [Founder Christian Defense Foundation]

Is what comes up w/ googling his name...

http://www.c21c.com/Press_releases/pr081400.htm

[Shallah Kali]

11. You can pray whatever you want as long as it is my prayer

And soon it won't be enough to be some variety of Christian, they will unleash their hatred and contempt for sects other than their own.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. Stupid fat pig.

>but I'm not going to give up the microphone

How very, very Christian of him. :eyes:

This sounds like it's got more to do with egotism than religion.

[donheld]

14. the epitome of Christ likeness

:grr:

[Erika]

16. Ann Coulter's definition of Christianity is carrying weight

We should kill all those who won't convert to Christianity, Ann Coulter. Now they are saying they will silence those who don't share their beliefs. Naziism 101. True Christians should toss them out.

[daleo]

27. Someone should ask Coulter whether she wants to kill Catholics too.

Because plenty of these right wingers don't consider them Christians. Do they have to be killed if they don't convert? What about Mormons? So many infidels and heretics, so little time.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. So now how

is this supposed to bring other backgrounds together with them? Yeah, right. Give me a break.

[Erika]

20. I would be so ashamed to be in Texas or Florida

right now. I hope my step-son in Dallas protests the bigoted Plano event.

[harpo]

24. I am ashamed to be in Texas :(

[ptolle]

29. ashamed/ texas

Remember, if you will what General W.T. Sherman said about Texass: "if I owned both Texass and hell, I'd rent out texass and live in hell. To which I'd add the observation of an army buddy of mine while we were both stationed at Ft. Hood upon our return from asia- there's only two things wrong with texass 1. it's full of texans and 2. it's on the wrong side of the san Andreas fault.

[AuntiBush]

22. It's the "How many People can one Piss off in a Day" Play

Bush's faithful (faithless) followers (suckers/idiots) are amazingly pissing off more and more varient groups of people, with each passing day.

Amazing. But, not graceful, by any means.

[tammywammy]

23. Uggh

I have to say, the last time I participated in a National day of anything was the flag pole prayer day in middle school. We all gathered at the flag pole, before school and held hands and sang and prayed together. I must have grown up in the only progressive part of Texas because I know if a Muslim joined it it would have been no big deal.
At my high school we had a Christian, an Islamic and an atheist club...and this is in big time Southern Baptist country. The Southern Baptist forced my mentor, a high school journalism teacher, out of our district.

[Maat]

25. DUers: about a year ago, I decided to e-mail the Task Force.

I e-mailed the National Day of Prayer Task Force (I was hoping Shirley Dobson herself would answer).

I really don't know who answered - but I did get an answer.

They stated that, yes, they were only planning "Christian" events. I put it in quotes, because it was obvious that what was meant was the fundamentalist/charismatic (e.g. Southern Baptist, Church of Nazarene ).

I had told them that I wasn't a Christian. They told me that I was welcome to pray my way on that day, but all of the events would be Christian events. I told them that it was kind of them to give me permission to pray (the sarcasm may have been lost on them).

I had told them that I hoped that the National Day of Prayer was privately funded, because I, a non-Christian non-fundamentalist, did not wish to be paying for their little exercise.

They did assure me that not one tax dollar went to this Day of Prayer. Somehow I doubt that.

In conjunction, I just found out something interesting for the "Separation of Church and State" presentation I did last night: after Barry Goldwater was defeated in 1964, it was Paul Weyrich, the big rightwing fundraiser/think-tank-founder, who wants to drown government in a bathtub, who thought of targeting conservative Christians to bring them into the Rethuglican party. He specifically targeted Pentecostals and Southern Baptists.

Thoughts?

Peace and Blessings,

[ChickMagic]

28. I spoke with them

and they told me the same thing. It is a strictly fundamentalist Christian thing. And in Dallas, they hold it in front of the old courthouse. It's public property and wrong.

[Maat]

30. Nice to see your post.

Yep, they definitely didn't see anything wrong with what they were doing when they replied to me.

To me, their conduct is shameful.

If a private organization wanted to privately fund a holiday in which we celebrated our spiritual diversity, I'd have no problem.

But they are certainly not communicating a affirmation of diversity - a key principle in our nation's history.

Shameful.

[reprobate]

33. This is why the people of europe are rejecting religion.

They have first hand esperience of what happens to a society run by religious nutballs. France has the right idea.

[jazzjunkysue]

35. (Hearing Jesus say, "I won't give up the microphone" in a texas drawl)

Brain bleach, please.

[geniph]

36. Gee, I'm sure Jesus would approve...

NOT!

Hey Frady - see Figure 1:


(Fig. 1)