conuly

In prayer, they aren't saying "our religion is the only acceptable one." They're saying, "This is what I believe, and I choose to excercise it publicly." Not such an unusual thing.

Would that I believed that. Let's look at why I think Bush and his ilk aren't saying the latter...

Republicans seem to be the driving force behind that "National Day of Prayer" dreck. Not a national day of "do something charitable or useful" but a national day of prayer.

The signing of the PBA was accompanied by a lot of religious talk. I don't want to think that my government is making important decisions based on religious feelings instead of science.

Bush has encouraged the Supreme Court to allow the 10 Commandments to be displayed on public buildings. This doesn't mean "churches" of course.

The Bush administration pushes abstinence everywhere. Even to the point of all those abstinence-only classes and pushing for "parental notification" if kids want to buy condoms. This doesn't exactly lower teen pregnancies. It doesn't lower abortion rates either, but this is a different issue. Most abstinence-only education promotion seems to be religiously based.

The war on Iraq has been repeatedly cast in religious terms. This is not the only case I have heard of.

I have yet to find an argument against same-sex marriage that doesn't involve religion. And here's our esteemed president, trying to amend the constitution based on a belief many people don't share.

I don't know Bush's feeling on evolution, but I've never heard a non-religious person diss it. I've heard plenty of religious people embrace it, don't get me wrong, but....

Let's not forget "March for Jesus Day". "March for Jesus Day was established as a time for us to join together as people of many faiths so that we may pay homage to our divine authority." Um, right.

And while I'm not touching the phrase on currency, I think displaying it in classrooms goes a bit far. Why not display something... well, relevant? Like the 1st Amendment? I think we could all use a little more of that in our classes.

I really have no faith in shrubboy and his ilk, not when it comes to the ability to keep their religion separate from their politics or their lawmaking, and this prayer is just the latest indication of that.