The New School Prayer

[mebadgett]

This was written by a teen in Bagdad, Arizona.

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

Source: http://www.snopes.com/language/document/newpray.htm

[Nay]

1. Oh, brother. Same old crap.

Dear Arizona Teen:
Kids can pray anytime they want in school, as long as they doesn't interrupt the teacher teaching. This point has been made over and over and over again -- YOU CAN PRAY IN SCHOOL.

What you can't do is expect the people who run the school to head up and officially endorse your prayer sessions. Because, you see, there are OTHER people in that school who don't pray to the same god(s), or who are atheists, and the government (rep by your school admin) cannot legally favor one religion over another, or favor religion over non-religion. So they leave it to YOU, the individual student or teacher, to pray as often or as fervently as you wish, as long as you don't talk straight over the teacher as she tries to teach class. Simple as that.

Now, let's get to the REAL reason the RR puts out such pitiful and whiny "prayers" like the above. They want everyone else to be forced to pray to their god, in the correct RR way, and to shove their beliefs down the throats of all those damn heathens and non-believers. It doesn't matter to the RR that the ACLU has taken, and won, those rare cases where a kid is forbidden by school authorities to read his bible during recesses, etc., because it is NEVER the point to just be able to pray or study the bible as a personal activity -- it is ALWAYS an attempt to get the rest of us to kowtow to the same belief system.

[LeahMira]

9. They are whiners?

Now, let's get to the REAL reason the RR puts out such pitiful and whiny "prayers" like the above.

The snopes.com writer got it ... they want to make it seem that the kids themselves want to pray in school.

Another thread in the piece is that kids find school a frightening place without Jesus.

Clearly, this was written by someone who hasn't been in school for quite a while. In other communications from the religous right, that becomes clear in the quality of the grammar and spelling characteristic of their writing. Guess they used spell check for this one.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Rowdyboy]

3. dupe

dupe

[MissMillie]

4. Moving this thread

to the Bush/Conservatives/Conservatism thread

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlackCap]

6. A kernal of a counter poem

Here's a kernal of a counter poem to this, you can add whatever you want to it and I only ask that you share what you add.

The right fiegnes oppression when there is none,
only to force conformity onto everyone.
Prayer is not banned but they'll tell you it's so,
for it's to Roy Moore rallies they want you to go!

They hate false religions and the so-called infidel,
but they love the hatemonger who's name is Falwell.
Do away with Harry Potter and it's Satanic tones,
fantasy can't exist unless it's Christian alone!

Their Bible must be read and their God invoked,
for kids must be indoctrinated and their autonomy revoked.
No Wicca, no Buddhism, no Islam is honored,
but they're fine with Old Testament stories of horror!

[Syn_Dem]

7. I like Blackcap

:)

[Kolesar]

11. ..and it is both simple and strident

I learned a bit of the Old Testament in Catecism decades ago. Now all I remember is the scariness.

[Hokie]

8. Did you bother to read Snopes?

It was NOT written by a student in Bagdad Arizona!

Now that takes real gall, mebadgett. Using Snopes as a source to recycle crap that Snopes has debunked.

[elfwitch]

10. Sounded like Snopes Glurge to me....

I guess I was correct.

[Breezy du Nord]

12. What the hell does he think churches are for?

If he wants to pray, do it alne or there or IN HIS OWN HOME.

Jesus, some people are stupid...

[JohnLocke]

13. Well...

Let me get out the world's smallest fiddle...

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:
:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:
:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:
:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[amber dog democrat]

14. Hmmmmmm

Methinks this person has too much time on his/her hands.
Welcome to the world.

Religeon ought to be a private matter. This seems more like an issue of projection.
I can't see where things were better in the past, just different. I too have difficulty adapting to social change, especially where a decline in common civility seems to be a common issue, but perhaps we are paying too much attention to the wrong things.

Rather than seeking to develope a spiritual balance within ones self, we are overly concerned with the behavior of others.