Let us pray

if alot more people would pray to God the world would be a better place just look where taking it out is getting us maybe if we all started praying then maybe things would start looking up, i used to say that no one should push how they feel about things on anyone and i still feel that but at the same time i just pray for those who dont know God and those who do should be aloud to pray if its not your religion then yes you should be aloud to say you dont wish to participate and no one should push a religion on you but i know from experience that there is only one God and if you don't know him or pray to him to help you in your life and to help others he'll eventually be in your life one way or another due to those of us who pray for you instead a bash you. When i get stressed at work and its not even from the work because i like to work and be busy its with the so call christians that i work around who need to really ask God for forgivness for taking up a seat a church and thinking that donating to already rich fundraisers and such is the ticket to sit next to God all i do is close my eyes no matter what im in the middle of and pray really hard to God to help them.

oh and by the way it works and helps all us at work have a better day

Strange, I pray all the time and no one knows I do it. I see no one, courts or otherwise, trying to stop me.

Things have not improved since the left 's war on prayer, and Christianity in general, began. The same mentality that declared infanticide was equal to privacy is now declaring that having a religion violates the "freedom from religion" for everyone. One degree at at time, the frog comes to a boil.

ptriciathomas: Maybe if the right weren't such hypocrites the war on prayer wouldn't be so bloody...btw, to pray you need both hands, left and right, that is if you pray properly and put them together...I imagine you praying by first giving a Nazi salute and lighting a cross...

Motorman5039 - Ever thought about starting your own religion?

I thought it was freedom of....not a guaranteed right to be free from any signs of religion.

It really depends on what the coach is praying for. If he is praying for a victory it means that the other team loses, if his prayers are answered. If he is praying that no one will be seriously injured during the game, both sides win. A prayer that I hope will be seriously considered.

Unfortunately, mgroothand, the thought police get to make the decision of what the prayer was. They're seldom kind.

Motorman, so much hate. Where do I find the rules for body position while praying? Is that why the war on prayer is so bloody?

Sodom & Gamora is here again! Don't look back as the politicians have...you will turn to stone as they have. Noone will ever stop me from praying to my GOD!!!

Here's the deal: anyone can pray anywhere, at any time. But if corporal prayer is what you want, then what you want is church.

Gosh I hate pickig on typos, I make plenty myself, but did you mean Gamara, the giant flying turtle? As far as Noone goes, why does the lead singer for Herman's Hermits care whether you pray or not?

With regards to the prayer in schools debate, I have a hard time justifying why my children should be subjected to beliefs they may not hold themselves. Its already a shame that they can be proselytized on a personal level by evangelicals who value their vague and amorphic religious beliefs more than they do actual human beings. But to be forced to participate in a worship ritual is just ridiculous. The claim that the absence of prayer is the cause for poor education is also a very poorly constructed argument. I wonder if the pro-religion-in-school citizenry would fight the same fight if verses from the Quran were to be read aloud instead of or along with typical christian prayer so often called for in school.

The right doesn't want prayer in schools, they want THEIR prayer in schools. Have the students turn to Mecca, say a Hail Mary (appropriate for football), or chant the Krishna Mantra and the same folks would be screaming to put a stop to it.

Education started going downhill when they took the fins off of Cadillacs. Same reasoning.

Tech, you don't feel the war on Christianity is as much of a cause as it is a symptom? I think the fins are just a coincidence, but I agree with your 8:35 post. Most of the rituals you listed are from anti-western culture religions. (your 8:30 was on target though)

This country was founded on Christianity...one nation under God, In God we Trust. Not allah, not the teen age mutant ninja turtles, not Strawberry shortcake or any other made up entity.

First off...I am all for school-sponsored prayer being banned. Students are allowed to pray on their own so their first amendment rights are protected. But what about the coach? Is his first amendment rights not being trampled on by being denied the right to pray with his team? And that was an excellent post Retired Army.

Banning prayer keeps religion from being forced upon students. I've always been for it. Send your children to a Catholic school if you want them to be forced to pray.

And Allah is just the Arabic word for God. It's the same God.

Right on, thepursuit and TechLover. There is no "war on Christianity". Look around. It bombards you everywhere you go, including (as thepursuit points out) at school, where little evangelicals are all-too-ready to tell non-believing or non-Christian kids they're going to hell. Why don't you understand that when a government-paid authority figure (a coach) includes a group prayer as part of the pre-game ritual, it's COERCIVE. As TechLover notes, no one can stop you from praying alone. If you want to pray in a group, convene one in your home or place of worship. I pray every day in my own way. No one has tried to stop me yet.

A school official should not be forcing his religious beliefs on his students. You would be up in arms if the coach were Muslim and had everyone bow down to Mecca. Besides, Jesus said not to make a show of prayer, but to do it privately.

God is judging this government and nation for giving the finger to God. Prayer is coersion? How about making me pay for abortions and embryonic stem cell research with my taxes that is against my faith? That is the definition of coercion. I wish I could designate what my taxes go to fund!

Gee, greenjacket, I wish I could designate what my taxes fund, as well. Certain wars, for example. Abstinence indoctrination, for another. Denying gays equal rights under the law--yep, that one, too. Oh, my list is endless! But that's not how our democracy works, my friend. Not forcing children to participate (or feel ostracized) in tax-funded group prayer is NOT "giving the finger to God". It is a NEUTRAL ACT, or absence of an act. The coach was welcome to pray in his office--he just couldn't gather the team around and pray to Jesus. You can't see why? By the way, what kind of god cares which team wins? What kind of micro-managing god do you folks believe in, anyway...

tjohns at 8:22 said: "But what about the coach? Is his first amendment rights not being trampled on by being denied the right to pray with his team?"I'm sure that if a Pagan, Muslim or Wiccan coach tried to pray one of their prayers to his or her team, folks wouldn't be clamoring to protect that coach's 1st ammendment rights.

I don't recall seeing that the coach "forced" the players to pray with him. it is his right to get on his knees and pray as well as it is their right not to participate in group prayer. wehn i was in school we had "a moment of silence" where any student could pray, sing a song in their head, pick thier nose or doodle...it is their personal choice. i suppose this coach will be punished when he bows his head before enjoying his meals in the cafeteria! this is so ridiculous!!!

It is time for God Fearing God loving Americans to take a stand. The problem with America is those in charge( notice I did not say we) are trying to appease every one that comes along. Do you hear of other countries banning their religion? In most countries it is an automatic death sentence to speak out against the religion of that country, no matter what it is. Those whom we have elected who want to ban our belief in God and prayer should be sent to those countries where they do not have to worry about seeing an expression of Christianity. It is time that we offend some people and get back to a basic belief in our God.And if that offends someone, I do not apologize.

So many of you are determined to group all religions under one umbrella. AND yes it is freedom OF not freedom FROM. Christians all have one common belief; That Jesus Christ was born, suffered/died and was ressurected from the dead for ONE purpose: That ALL mankind might have salvation..I DID say ALL. Now..I don't think we, as Christians should "push" our beliefs upon anyone else BUT we are bound by God's command to; "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the world." Matthew 28: 19-20. That does NOT mean we hate you, quite the opposite...we do have to respond to God's word in our way..You can accept it or NOT and THAT friends is the beauty of our faith. There are many denominations who believe this therefore they are also known as Christians. I am Protastant and most of these other beliefs call themselves Protastant also. The exception mainly is the Catholic faith. There are many differences in theology and interpretation of the "HOLY BIBLE." .......con't