The Tulsa City Council recently decided to no longer open their meetings with prayers offered in the name of Jesus. Some in this area have expressed the opinion that this amounts to discrimination against Christianity and Christians. I would agree that is the motivation for many of the lawsuits, petitions, etc. for curtailing or eliminating expressions of Christianity from government activity, in this case, I don't care if any government meeting opens with a prayer in the name of Jesus.
Of course, Jesus instructed His followers to pray in His name. He also said that if you believe in your heart, you shall have what you say. Just simply appending the phrase, "in the Name of Jesus" to a prayer is no guarantee that your prayer will be answered. You must also have faith in your heart. Too many times "in the name of Jesus" becomes just a meainigless formality.
This brings up two things that I often hear about religion or faith that I do not agree with.
"You should respect other people's beliefs." Really? Have you compared the teachings of Christianity with Buddhism, or Hinduism, or any other religion? Quite a bit of conflict there in some cases. Satanism is a legally recognized religion, and is the polar opposite of Christianity. How can Christians and Satanists respect each others' beliefs?
I'm not saying that any religion should be outlawed, or anyone should be forced to accept any particular belief system. I might not agree with or respect what you belive, but I respect your right to believe what you believe.
"Religion is a private affair and does not belong in public." Boy, Jesus should would have a problem with that one. He said He would deny before His Father any one who denied Him before men. Christianity is meant to be publicly expressed, not hid away in houses and churches. This saying that religion should be private goes against the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech.
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