Texas Republican governor and potential presidential candidate Rick Perry
will headline a "Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis" on Aug. 6 at Reliant
Stadium in Houston.
The ACLU of Texas and liberals are predictably upset.
Liberals aren't against prayer, so long as it advances a secular earthly
agenda. While wringing their hands and even threatening legal action against the
Aug. 6 gathering (the prohibition of which would violate the freedom of
assembly, as well as the free exercise of religion clauses of the First
Amendment), the ACLU of Texas and its fellow ideological travelers have said
nothing about another prayer meeting that took place last week in the White
House.
Here is how Jim Wallis of the liberal Christian magazine "Sojourners"
described that meeting on his website: "I, along with 11 other national faith
leaders, met with President Obama and senior White House staff for 40 minutes.
We were representing the Circle of Protection, which formed in a commitment to
defend the poor in the budget debates. Sitting in the Roosevelt Room of the
White House, we opened in prayer, grasping hands across the table, and read
scripture together. We reminded ourselves that people of faith must evaluate big
decisions on issues like a budget by how they impact the most vulnerable."
Wallis says President Obama mentioned a passage from Matthew 25 where Jesus
is talking about "inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of these, you've
done it also unto me." There is no indication that Jesus commanded government to
be the primary caregiver for the poor. His commission was for those who followed
Him to do it, because His objective was not only to fill empty stomachs, but
also to fill empty souls. The debate about the role of government vs. the role
of the church has long been a tension point between conservatives and liberals
in religious circles.
If this had been a prayer meeting hosted by conservative evangelical leaders
with President George W. Bush in attendance and the prayers were about
conservative social policies, one can safely predict how liberals would have
reacted. But since this was about maintaining government spending for social
programs favored by liberals, these prayers were no problem for them.
Both liberals and conservatives claim to pray to the same God, but for
different results. Abraham Lincoln noted this conflict in his Second Inaugural
Address: "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God; and each invokes
His aid against the other. ... The prayers of both could not be answered."
Perhaps what's needed is less praying for results favorable to one side and
more listening to what the One to whom each side is praying has already
said.
(Billy's Thoughts>>> The above is part of a column that Cal Thomas wrote. Cal is right instead of praying for our side to win we need to listen to what the Lord wants to tell us. Amen anyone? If you like you can read the whole column by Cal Thomas>>>>>Praying
for the Right (or Left) Result)