Some people, it seems, get offended way too easily. I mean, isn't that what
all this prayer hullabaloo is all about - people getting offended? Those
of us in the majority are always tiptoeing around, trying to make sure we
don't step on the toes or hurt the feelings of the humorless. And you can
bet there's a lawyer standing on every corner making sure we don't.
Take this prayer deal. It's absolutely ridiculous. Some atheist goes to a
high school football game, hears a kid say a short prayer before the game
and gets offended. So he hires a lawyer and goes to court and asks somebody
to pay him a whole bunch of money for all the damage done to him.
You would have thought the kid kicked him in the crotch. Damaged for life by
a 30 second prayer? Am I missing something here? I don't believe in Santa
Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in
December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer
when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because
someone says a 30 second prayer before a football game.
So what's the big deal?
It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're
just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the
players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
"But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United
States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. And we are in
the Bible Belt. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches
outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -
somebody chanting Hare Krishna?
If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish
prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a
Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to
hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother
me one bit. When in Rome....
"But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them?
Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection
plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a
Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession
stand. Call your lawyer.
Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell
thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a
football game is going to shake the world's foundations. Nor do I believe
that not praying will result in more serious injuries on the field or more
fatal car crashes after the game. In fact, I'm not so sure God would even be
at all these games if he didn't have to be.
That's just one of the downsides of omnipresence. If God really liked
sports, the Russians would never have won a single gold medal, New York
would never play in a World Series and Deion Sanders' toe would be healed by
now.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our
courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to
pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us just
to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are
telling us to cease praying. God, help us.
And if that last sentence offends you - well... just sue me.
By Nick Gholson
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