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Re: [RC] [RC] invocation - heidi

Of course, anyone could pray at their own trailer before mounting.
However, many who pray generally recognize the power of group prayer, so
it could be announced that there will be an invocation (at a spot other
than the start) "for those who want to participate". That should not
offend anyone.(:>)


Well put.  I am not "offended" if the locals want to get together and sing
their local club song.  I do not feel pressured to join in.  But it is a
tribute to their freedom that they can do so.  Likewise a group prayer--if
it isn't your bag, you don't have to join in, but you can still respect
the freedoms of those who wish to express their religious beliefs in that
manner.  That's what freedom is about--and a necessary flip side of
freedom is respecting the other guy's desire to express his religious
beliefs.

There IS a middle ground between not being able to freely express what you
believe and cramming it down other people's throats.  A brief invocation
is a sincere public expression of a personal freedom, and can be respected
as such without participating--if, on the other hand, you had to declare
that you believed in the Virgin Birth or the Jihad in order to pass the
vet check, THAT would be cramming it down your throat.  Our founding
fathers never intended that religion should have to be practiced in secret
like some shameful thing--they intended that it was ok to express what you
believed, but that you couldn't coerce someone else into believing exactly
as you do.  The very people who gave us freedom of religion and separation
of church and state also prayed before every meeting.  I think the ACLU
needs to be reminded of that every once in awhile, and to remember not to
throw out the very principles that make their existence possible.

Heidi



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Replies
[RC] [RC] invocation, sherman