Obama's People-Focused Prayer Day Proclamation vs. Bush's God-Focused One
Reader Comments
Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation
Has President Obama issued a 2009 Thanksgiving Proclamation? Does he believe that his declaration of a day in May as a day of prayer is sufficient? Can he not follow the example of his predecessors like Washington and Lincoln as well as FDR?
National Prayer Day
The Gospel of Mathew says that when praying, we should "go into our rooms, and shut the door". If you want to fault Obama for doing this, maybe we should also find fault with Jesus for giving such 'ridiculous" advice.
National Day of Prayer
For the record the National Day of Prayer is not "Obama's day of prayer!" God is surely lurking in there somewhere rather we like it or not! Everyone in our nation has the right to pray anytime, anywhere, silently, publically,in church,or in the grocery store (silently of course) ANYWHERE! That is our right and privilege as Americans! Unfortunately not every country has that right and people are persecuted for their beliefs by the government of that country. No,our government does not have the right to force any beliefs or constraints on how we worship,pray or express ourselves through our religious beliefs . You can support Obama or not, that is also your right but that is not the point! The point is where the emphasis is concentrated and it should not be only on PEOPLE when we pray!
sorry but..
God does not exist, its true. I invite you to prove this fact wrong. Good luck and good day :)
Re: Oh the Christian right...
As a conservative evangelical (who supported Obama's candidacy and think he is doing a great job as president), I am troubled by the virulence of Viv81's comments. The parenthetical comment "your intolerance [is] far from what Christ imagined, but I don't go around trying to shove my belief system down anybody's throat" is ironic given it is in the midst of a tirade about how the religious right is wrong. It's hard to sustain a "you people are so judgmental" argument, when you're ruthlessly judging people!
Re: Oh, the Christian Right...
You're speaking foolishness.
While it is true that the separation of church and state was a founding law in America, it was meant only so that the church does not run the government, and, in the same notion, the government does not run the church; HOWEVER, the church and the government were meant to come together in harmony in the public square to create a free and peaceful nation.
And the supposed claim that "mega churches" are not Christ's vision you are so seriously wrong. Lets think back to when Jesus fed the masses, the THOUSANDS of people, they broke bread, and had fellowship, they prayed (in public mind you), and gave thanks to God. THIS IS CHURCH! Anytime the body of Christ comes together in fellowship it is considered church, and God tells us not to forsake the fellowship.
Jesus gave the first example of a mega-church! In fact, if the idea of a large church was NOT God's will or Christ's vision then why would he have a literal KINGDOM of nothing but worshippers and believers in an eternal church in Heaven composed of MILLIONS (maybe even billions) of angels and the soon-to-be saints of earth?
God also tells us to oppose evil and put on the whole armor of God to withstand the darts of the devil. How can we oppose evil if we do not make the step to influence the love of Christ into our communities. Other religions are false, end of story. While we should respect them as people and love them just the same, their religions cannot be allowed to influence the people, but, in the same notion, we shouldn't war with them over it, because our battle is not flesh and blood.
I am getting tired of people thinking it's a political battle or a cultural battle. You claim you're a christian, doesn't God tells us not to contribute ourselves to political arguements or squabbles? Doesn't he also command us not to speak ill about our brothers and sisters in Christ? You can't compromise a faith in God just to please the majority. God and Baal have NOTHING in common!
Obama Respects Everyone
I am a Christian woman, and I believe that President Obama displayed wisdom in not making the National Day of Prayer about one singular religion or the two dominant ones. He was inclusive and respectful of ALL Americans in doing so. President Obama has proved himself to be a compassionate, intelligent, and bold leader who governs by the people and is for the people.
Oh, the Christian Right...
Good God, you Christian religious nuts are ridiculous and willfully ignorant. You completely disregard the fact that this country was founded on the separation of church and state. So the Evangelicals didn't get an invitation to the White House--boo hoo, you people are not the only ones in this country, nor do you represent all Christians (I am an Orthodox Christian, and the practices of my faith go all the way back to the apostles--we arguably practice Christianity as it was first practiced and I personally think that you people with your mega-churches and your intolerance are far from what Christ imagined, but I don't go around trying to shove my belief system down anybody's throat). It speaks volumes to the Christian Right's arrogance that they never even stop to think that one can pray without being a Christian and that as this country is made up of many different religious groups, it might be best to follow a policy of not favoring one of the other. Unfortunately, they're used to everyone in the Republican Party pandering to them. Well, the Republicans aren't in power anymore and I suspect some of the more rational members of that party are beginning to realize what a bad strategy it is to worry solely about the Christian Right to the detriment of losing moderates.
The bottom line is: prayer should be a personal and private activity. Be as religious as you want in your own life, follow the Ten Commandments and the precepts of the Bible to your heart's content--but I'm keeping my faith to myself and I will thank you to do the same.
Obama is right not to show of faith for political gain
Matthew 6:5-6
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
PR events to support prayer are self serving and hypocritical. Christians have no business doing it, and no one else seems to have enough bad taste to show off like that. Showing off and CLAIMING piety isn't the same thing as genuine faith.
People shouldn't be using Jesus to further their political, financial, and social aspirations in this manner. If you tried to claim Oprah's endorsement without her permission, you'd be sued out of existence.
Those who pray in fellowship with other believers, those who pray in private, they are all acting in accordance with the bible. But those who feel a need to display their faith in public to gain the approval of media figures and political action groups are acting contrary to Matthew 6:5-6.
Politics
We have to realize that we are now ruled by the politics of the media, because the silent majority has chosen to stay silent. Politics of the people has long been forgotten, outnumbered by the politics of the government,and politics of the media. If our country goes down the toilet when the dollar value drops down to a penny, we have no one else to blame but ourselves. We owe foreign countries that are much smaller than us trillions of dollar that we can never repay someday soon. So, my dear countrymen, start voting for people that understands economics, especially global economy, or else we will collapse from the core. Running a government is a serious business. Right now, the way things are going is like us asking a barber to do heart surgery......God bless us all....very hard times is comming. Start by voting for an economist in Congress, and not by party affiliation alone.
