The New School Prayer

Published on January 4, 2006 By WOM In WinCustomize Talk

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

From watching whats on the news now a days, thought this made a lot of sense.

Comments (Page 7)

scorpio-logic

on Jan 05, 2006

Excellent input from all sides, gentlemen (and ladies). I have to applaud Adamness, his articulation guises his true age. Luckily, this thread has not (yet) turned into a flaming contest, and I thank all those who posted. This has truly been fascinating reading. If this thread continues, I hope it does so with the same fervor and intent as has been exhibited thusly. Have a great night, to all those who've turned in. Thanks for the reading.

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xjennx

on Jan 05, 2006

Everybody! Take a moment and listen to Lennon`s Imagine song, and comeback to this thread...

WOM

on Jan 05, 2006

I didn't post this to get a debate about being a Christian or not. I posted it because I thought the words of a school kid was good. I to am glad this didn't turn out to be a big bonfire roasting people.

scorpio-logic

on Jan 06, 2006

It's a good post WOM. And so far, mostly intellectual debate. Religion, and teh perception thereof, always gets people going. Thanks for the post, I am really enjoying the thread. I don't mind a bit looking at things from another's point of view, and I definately enjoy putting in my own 2 and a half cents!

However, this coming from a school child can be rather disturbing. And with no where to turn, no finite rules or boundaries what happens next? There's no control. Anarchy seems to be at the very edge of consuming all. Makes me wonder how the author will turn out in the long run.

Jafo

on Jan 06, 2006

Luckily, this thread has not (yet) turned into a flaming contest,

Religious-based threads are 'watched'....

on Jan 06, 2006

In a godless world, why on earth would I want to do something 'good' unless it benefits myself in some way?
'Because you should do 'good' for the sake of doing good.' ...But why? Why should I care? Why should I care about anyone other than myself?

Are you saying that atheists don't have feelings at all? Nope. We are still humans. We care about others other than ourselves. We simply don't believe or even have need for any deities to represent anything.

I just wanted to point out that if you are an atheist then you deny there is a God correct? To deny God you have to acknowledge God exists first.

That's pretty flawed argument. I deny that earth is moving into sun at light speed. Does it mean that I HAVE to acknowledge that earth IS moving into sun at light speed? Certainly not... In shortest possible way to show your statement of logic: Deny of existence=Acknowledge of existence. It sure don't make sense. It's pretty much True=False.

Cynder-Elluh

on Jan 06, 2006

However, this coming from a school child can be rather disturbing. And with no where to turn, no finite rules or boundaries what happens next? There's no control. Anarchy seems to be at the very edge of consuming all. Makes me wonder how the author will turn out in the long run.

Anarchy IS at the very edge, waiting to consume who it can.....
I am very concerned for the student who wrote the prayer also, makes me wonder what is going on with that person now.
I hope that prayer, the cry for peace, safety and reassuance was answered!

I really enjoyed reading all this too! So many opinions and passions, I am thankful it didn't turn into something ugly! Thank you very much!

Koasati

on Jan 06, 2006

I didn't post this to get a debate about being a Christian or not.

If you didn't know this thread would become a debate, then perhaps you should change your nick.....

WOM

on Jan 06, 2006

Koasati, I didn't say I didn't think it would, I said I didn't post it get a debate about being a Christain. Note the difference.

100

NightTrainthedark

on Jan 06, 2006

All in all I am impressed with the maturity of everyone commenting in this thread. I would have guessed it wuld be locked very fast.

If you didn't know this thread would become a debate, then perhaps you should change your nick

That was funny.

101

jebro

on Jan 06, 2006

I'm also positively surprised of the nice climate of different opinions in this thread.
I'll take back my earlier comment about "how easy people begin to argument with anger, in the name of God and religion."

I was wrong this time.

102

starkers

on Jan 06, 2006

Everybody! Take a moment and listen to Lennon`s Imagine song, and comeback to this thread...

'Imagine' is one of the most thought provoking songs I have ever heard. When I listen to the wisdom of the words, Lennon's intended message, I cannot help but think that his was one of the greatest minds in history.
John Lennon may have indulged in some lunacy at times, particularly with the Beatles (Sign of the times), we was a deeply thinking and profound man whose philosophy could teach many a member of the human race a happier way to co-exist.

Even God himself would have agreed whole heartedly about 'imagine there was no religion'....for He did not create it, MAN did....and in doing so, corrupted the original intent of our existence, which is to co-exist peacefully, in harmony with nature and our environment...to love one another but to never covet, murder or steal.
That, in essence, in the short form, is morality...what John Lennon believed without religion as the basis for his ideals.

Greed is probably mankind's worst enemy....greed for power, wealth and dominance, and greed is most often, if not always, the underlying reason/motive for immorality, the pillaging, rape and murder of our brothers/sisters....the planet.

We speak of 'races', but these are not natural occurences, rather they are man made divisions, created for the aforementiomned reasons...greed, and how the priveleged few assert control over the masses. Sure society needs to be ordered/structured, but heck, we could well do without some of the arsewipes who've assumed positions of power/influence.

Rant off..shall medicate and retire to slumber now.

103

rabidrobot

on Jan 06, 2006

A number of posters have tried to use logic as a defense for religious beliefs. While I feel even the examples in this thread are themselves flawed, I would like to point out a couple larger issues with logic and faith.

First, semantically--that is, if words mean what the dictionaries say and we all use them with their intended meaning--faith and logic are essentially mutually exclusive. "Faith", in a religous context, is belief despite contrary evidence and logic, or at least, belief without provable reason.

This distinction is important at the fundamental level of most religious belief. For example, most religions include an omnipotent deity. This gives rise to the logical paradox I think was summed up best by Homer Simpson, "Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot, that He Himself could not eat it?" Jokes aside, this isn't some fancy play on words, nor of negligible import. Omnipotence presents a fundamental logical fallacy at the heart of religion.

Another example of underlying fallacy is a bit more specific. The crux of the Intelligent Design theory is that something so wonderful, complex, and awe-inspiring as the universe could only be the result of a creator. If this is an accepted assumption, it begs the question, "Who designed the designer?" Which leads to an infinite regression and fundamental logical flaw in the argument. If another assumption is added, that the designer needs no designer itself, we have directly contradicting assumptions. We cannot base an argument on the assumption that A) Incredibly marvelous things DO require a designer and

Some incredibly marvelous things DO NOT require a designer, as they are directly contradictory, so this extended argument also is fundamentally logically flawed from the beginning.

Because at the heart of religious faith lies direct, fundamental flaws by the rules of logic and reason, any attempts to prove them true using the rules of logic and reason are doomed. Certainly one could use reason to support such an argument, but because, again, the conclusion is flawed, that reason must have been misapplied.

104

_02

on Jan 06, 2006

Faith goes beyond human understanding, logic and reason. That's why it's called faith. There are actually many things beyond our limited thinking.

105

Adamness

on Jan 06, 2006

Yeah. But people of faith don't care if it is logical. Scientists work by logic. The religious and spiritual work on beliefs and faith, often based on an unprovable experience, or they were just brought up in that environment.

I would support Intelligent Design if someone in the Intelligent Design group would say that maybe it is a deity that is the designer, or maybe it is another life form. Well, maybe I wouldn't exactly support it, but aliens are just as likely to have 'designed' us as any deity.

Man, this thread has sure gone through a lot of topic changes.

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