If you were going to have a showdown in Lodi, CA it might as well be over God. According the NY times, Lodi has taken accustom to praying before city council meetings. As one might imagine, not everyone is pleased. Legal blows are ready to fire. Here is a very loose quote of the pro-side, "It's not big deal." And the opposing side, "it's a very big deal." In any case, this battle is headed to the courts very soon.
While the pro-prayer folks have a good point that the prayer is non-sectarian, non-divisive, and pre-gavel smash, I think there is an interesting issue to consider. Let's say for a moment that the prayer of the Lodi Councilmen does happen to work like they want it to. God, if He is there, listening, and willing, happens to grant all of the requests. How will that effect the meetings? It will be such that the proceedings have a heavy religious undertone, nay, an entirely religious undertone--hey, it's from God, remember. If that happens, then the charge of Church connected with State will uphold true--the policy will be divine.
Perhaps that example slights to the mythological blend, but a similar example could provide insight. It could turn out that when those parishioners ask for wisdom from the Almighty that they in fact devote themselves to acting according to some religious standard. Maybe this is just good wisdom, but maybe its a slippery slope.
No comments:
Post a Comment