Many of my Facebook friends commenting on Biden omitting God from his national prayer day declaration....
Biden omits the word 'God' from national prayer declaration
Biden omits the word 'God' from national prayer declaration
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Biden omits God from his national prayer day declaration
- Thread starter rockytopva
- Start date
From the Link above:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mockingly tweeted: “Our Government, which art in Washington, hallowed be thy taxes…” in response to a story about the proclamation, while evangelist Franklin Graham told Fox News Thursday night: “Of course we need to call on God, and not just some generic ‘gods’ or some ‘power’ in the air, but on God himself … There is no one else to pray to except to God.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mockingly tweeted: “Our Government, which art in Washington, hallowed be thy taxes…” in response to a story about the proclamation, while evangelist Franklin Graham told Fox News Thursday night: “Of course we need to call on God, and not just some generic ‘gods’ or some ‘power’ in the air, but on God himself … There is no one else to pray to except to God.”
So what?
He is our President, not our pastor.
Moreover, why do we need the President to invite us to pray?
The government should stay out of religious practice.
He is our President, not our pastor.
Moreover, why do we need the President to invite us to pray?
The government should stay out of religious practice.
Because it has been tradition
Just like for any other proclamation be it for the military, Thanksgiving, and ect.
So if you think that the govt should stay out of religious practice, then are you saying that the military should have no chaplains
From a historic Baptist perspective, it is a poor tradition.
No, I am not saying that. Life is not that simplistic.
As a general principle, government should stay out of religious practice. But in certain circumstances where personnel who are serving the government are segregated from free association with their chosen religious communities (at a military installation or deployed overseas in a combat area), it is appropriate for the government to make military chaplains (representing a variety of faith and traditions) available to personnel as part of social and spiritual maintenance of their personnel.
However, military chaplains walk a very fine line between maintaining the discipline and mission of the military branch, while also maintaining fidelity to their Divine commission to serve military personnel. This sometimes leads to problems, when Presidents, Congress, or military leaders want to use religious faith for their own purposes, or when chaplains or military personnel are led by their convictions to oppose some aspect of the military mission.
So are you saying that Jefferson was wrong?
Religion and the Federal Government, Part 2 - Religion and the Founding of the American Republic | Exhibitions (Library of Congress)
Religion is part of our culture. Proclaiming one day a year for prayer is not overdoing it.
Being a chaplain does not have to be a fine line. If anything, sometimes it is the govt (and/or military) that makes it hard on chaplains.
But over all, in my many years of of service - I have never witness a chaplain going to far or over the line.
Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian, nor a Baptist. He came at religious liberty from the opposite direction as Baptists, but he and Baptists both agreed upon the separation of church and state.
Jefferson was also quite inconsistent with many things in his own life, including the keeping of slaves. At some points, it seems clear he thought the institution was wrong, but yet he held other human beings captive and sexually used Sally Hemmings. His relationship with Hemmings (that bore children) has been portrayed as a "loving" relationship, but the reality is that we don't know what Ms. Hemmings thought about it. She did not have rights or agency in the relationship, so she may have just been doing what she needed to do to survive.
So Jefferson was right and wrong about many things, as well as inconsistent.
That's certainly one opinion. But why the controversy about him not mentioning the English generic name for Deity that is used by Jews and Christians in the United States (aka "God)?
(1) If you just want people to pray according to their own religious convictions, why are Ted Cruz and Franklin Graham attacking Biden for it?
(2) Is it just a hypocritical politically-motivated attack, or are they demanding that Biden seem to endorse the brand of religious belief they claim to hold?
^^^ These are not rhetorical questions. Please respond to them.
That's precisely what I am referring to. The military making it hard for chaplains to do their work according to their convictions.
That's good to know. Please understand, I don't have anything against chaplains. I had Major General Dr. James Spivey for part of my Christian History studies in seminary, and is an acquaintance outside the classroom. I greatly admire the work and dedication needed for such a ministry.
But you are the one who needlessly introduced chaplaincy into the discussion, which is quite off-topic. This is about expecting the President of a secular government to make proclamations asking citizens to pray in such a way that explicitly gives lip service to the generic name, "God."
Yea we will all have a heart attack and die of not surprised