E-mail Jihads
Yes, the "E-mail Jihad." We all know what I'm talking about. The largely circulated e-mail by some right wing rightgeous who wants us to ban Harry Potter, Gay Marriage, and preserve prayer in school.
Holy War E-mails. The definitive preservation of Christianity in the Western world will hang in the balance and only be saved through these all important e-mail forwards.
Did I mention that I'm not a fan. (ok and I'm not counting personal concern e-mails in that because some of you have written e-mails on a personal level on issues that we can have an impact on - like rights in China)
Ok - there's my rant for the day.
Actually - just one more rant now that I think about it ...
Ok - this might be a bit offensive, but just think about this point and I actually welcome comments about this because I want to know other viewpoints. Ok - this is about prayer in schools.
Ok - so God tells us not to take his name in vain - right? So taking God's name in vain is anytime we use God's name that is not in the context of who he really is - whether that be in anger as a curse, or in religious bable like the pharisees and tele -evangelists, or even out of banality.
So if we are forcing there to be prayer in schools we are forcing God's name to be taken in vain. Do we really think that forcing a bunch of atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, etc... to say the Lord's prayer as a ritual is going to preserve Christianity in the West?
The thing is I've been a teacher to largely non - Westernized, non - Christian kids. And I would have felt like the emperor Constantine if I would have decided that everyone was going to bable the Lord's prayer together when the kids didn't even have the first clue who Jesus was.
It used to be that the majority in a public school were from a Christian background so it was ok to say it together. But now the majority is not from a Christian background and we cannot force on other people's kids what they do not believe. It will only make them more against Christianity.
People have to choose to pray - it cannot be instituted from the public school systems.
I know that the reason people protest this is because they remember the time when everyone was mostly from Christian backgrounds and supported this. And these people miss that time.
But North America is largely post Christian now and we need to be wise how we spread the gospel. We cannot institute it onto people or onto other people's kids. That will only cause further rejection because we are presenting Christianity as a forced culture and not as a personal choice.
separation of church and state folks - that's how our forefathers set it up. And some argue - "well, we're a Christian Nation and If my kids were going to a public school in Iran they'd be forced to read the Koran so if immigrants come to our country then they need to accept our culture too"
First of all - unless you are First Nations - you're an immigrant - so don't even give me that immigrant crap.
But Christianity isn't a culture and part of the reason that North America is post- Christian is because we set it up as a culture and some of the culture that we set up was very negative and not very Jesus at all (but we decided to say that it was Jesus). So people started associating Christianity with some really negative things (like war mongering).
But on the other hand - we do need to preserve the freedom of speech for Christians who are trying to pray and say what they believe on a personal level.
Like those "See You at the Pole" things where groups of kids would CHOOSE to go and pray at the school flag pole. Or at my old school in China a group of kids asked me if they could come to my art room and pray with me at lunch every day.
Like - that's cool. And if the government starts banning that - well gnashing of teeth - yes we should protest that squelching of our rights.
BUT NOT THROUGH AN E-MAIL FORWARD.
The end
Holy War E-mails. The definitive preservation of Christianity in the Western world will hang in the balance and only be saved through these all important e-mail forwards.
Did I mention that I'm not a fan. (ok and I'm not counting personal concern e-mails in that because some of you have written e-mails on a personal level on issues that we can have an impact on - like rights in China)
Ok - there's my rant for the day.
Actually - just one more rant now that I think about it ...
Ok - this might be a bit offensive, but just think about this point and I actually welcome comments about this because I want to know other viewpoints. Ok - this is about prayer in schools.
Ok - so God tells us not to take his name in vain - right? So taking God's name in vain is anytime we use God's name that is not in the context of who he really is - whether that be in anger as a curse, or in religious bable like the pharisees and tele -evangelists, or even out of banality.
So if we are forcing there to be prayer in schools we are forcing God's name to be taken in vain. Do we really think that forcing a bunch of atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, etc... to say the Lord's prayer as a ritual is going to preserve Christianity in the West?
The thing is I've been a teacher to largely non - Westernized, non - Christian kids. And I would have felt like the emperor Constantine if I would have decided that everyone was going to bable the Lord's prayer together when the kids didn't even have the first clue who Jesus was.
It used to be that the majority in a public school were from a Christian background so it was ok to say it together. But now the majority is not from a Christian background and we cannot force on other people's kids what they do not believe. It will only make them more against Christianity.
People have to choose to pray - it cannot be instituted from the public school systems.
I know that the reason people protest this is because they remember the time when everyone was mostly from Christian backgrounds and supported this. And these people miss that time.
But North America is largely post Christian now and we need to be wise how we spread the gospel. We cannot institute it onto people or onto other people's kids. That will only cause further rejection because we are presenting Christianity as a forced culture and not as a personal choice.
separation of church and state folks - that's how our forefathers set it up. And some argue - "well, we're a Christian Nation and If my kids were going to a public school in Iran they'd be forced to read the Koran so if immigrants come to our country then they need to accept our culture too"
First of all - unless you are First Nations - you're an immigrant - so don't even give me that immigrant crap.
But Christianity isn't a culture and part of the reason that North America is post- Christian is because we set it up as a culture and some of the culture that we set up was very negative and not very Jesus at all (but we decided to say that it was Jesus). So people started associating Christianity with some really negative things (like war mongering).
But on the other hand - we do need to preserve the freedom of speech for Christians who are trying to pray and say what they believe on a personal level.
Like those "See You at the Pole" things where groups of kids would CHOOSE to go and pray at the school flag pole. Or at my old school in China a group of kids asked me if they could come to my art room and pray with me at lunch every day.
Like - that's cool. And if the government starts banning that - well gnashing of teeth - yes we should protest that squelching of our rights.
BUT NOT THROUGH AN E-MAIL FORWARD.
The end
posted by Kendra Fehr at
8:46 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the post, though I think if you were to discuss this with someone of an opposing view you would have to use a less polemic format because a polemic method will most likely create defensiveness rather than agreement. However, those who agree with you (like myself), will strongly agree and your method of writing brought Amens! ;-) The thing I always have to remind myself is that those who are concerned about issues such as prayer in school, love the Lord Jesus and want to see him glorified and are sincerely trying to do their part although they may be misguided. I always wonder what those who come after us 50 years down the road will be ranting about in regards to what we are doing and our misguidings. We need to constantly keep an open mind so that when they do rant we will listen and take into consideration what they say. Another pop saying is that when we allowed prayer to be banned from schools we took God out of our schools. PTL we don't dictate where God goes. He's still there. We don't have the power to remove Him. If we teach our kids correctly at home to love and honor God with all their hearts, they can be a sweet aroma of Jesus in their schools. Their life can cause a greater difference in their school than public prayer ever did. That is why I so strongly advocate Christian kids going to public schools. How else will other little kids hear about Jesus? We need to stop overproctecting our kids and teach them to stand up for their faith even during tough times, in tough situations when they are in the minority.
Anyway, on a different subject ... what are your thoughts on Harry Potter? I'm not referring to banning it, I'm thinking of whether you would allow your little kids (elementary age) to watch it.
Aimee
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Andrew and Aimée, At
7:54 AM
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