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Religion, Judgment, and Political Correctness

AlbqOwl

AlbqOwl

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Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
 
AlbqOwl said:
Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...

Yep! We are an un-Christian society alright and very albeit usually subtly anti-religious. There is no question about it.
 
joG said:
Yep! We are an un-Christian society alright and very albeit usually subtly anti-religious. There is no question about it.
Click to expand...

So are you saying that you are okay with the prayer?
 
Of course I have a problem with this, it is a crafted "prayer" to an audience with the intention of appealing to their authority to handle most if not all of those subjects. Or, an appeal to Theocracy.
 
OrphanSlug said:
Of course I have a problem with this, it is a crafted "prayer" to an audience with the intention of appealing to their authority to handle most if not all of those subjects. Or, an appeal to Theocracy.
Click to expand...

I didn't see it that way at all, but maybe I'm missing something. What specifically do you see as appealing to their authority?
 
joG said:
Why should a prayer disturb you.
Click to expand...

I did not say or even suggest that it disturbed me. I was asking if you are okay with all of it.
 
AlbqOwl said:
I didn't see it that way at all, but maybe I'm missing something. What specifically do you see as appealing to their authority?
Click to expand...

I don't understand that either.
 
AlbqOwl said:
Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...

This was clearly directed at the people in attendance, not at God. So, it's not so much a prayer as it is a political speech disguised as a prayer. Should pastors be using an invitation to pray as an opportunity to push their political agendas? I don't think so. Thus, I have a problem with the speech in general, he abused the invitation in order to make a political speech instead of a prayer. Had they invited him to speak on the intersection of politics and Christianity, there wouldn't be anything wrong with what he said. But they didn't invite him to speak, they invited him to pray and he took advantage of that invitation and gave a speech.
 
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AlbqOwl said:
Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...
Well it says "we" rather than the usual "you" or "they" so at least it's got that going for it.

Personally, I agree with a couple of the points and strongly disagree with others. I suspect pretty much everyone will feel the same, though not necessarily on the same points. I think that says more than the actual "prayer" does.

But what do I know. I don't believe in sin. :)
 
CrabCake said:
This was clearly directed at the people in attendance, not at God. So, it's not so much a prayer as it is a political speech disguised as a prayer. Should pastors be using an invitation to pray as an opportunity to push their political agendas? I don't think so. Thus, I have a problem with the speech in general, he abused the invitation in order to make a political speech instead of a prayer. Had they invited him to speak on the intersection of politics and Christianity, there wouldn't be anything wrong with what he said. But they didn't invite him to speak, they invited him to pray and he took advantage of that invitation and gave a speech.
Click to expand...

An interesting perspective. Others would say that it was a prayer of confession, and that would absolutely make it a prayer.
 
HonestJoe said:
Well it says "we" rather than the usual "you" or "they" so at least it's got that going for it.

Personally, I agree with a couple of the points and strongly disagree with others. I suspect pretty much everyone will feel the same, though not necessarily on the same points. I think that says more than the actual "prayer" does.

But what do I know. I don't believe in sin. :)
Click to expand...

All corporate prayers in the presence of a gathering will incorporate the so-called 'royal we' as he who prays is praying for an entire gathering or group or institution or nation. In this case I don't know, but I would guess a substantial majority would see that prayer as directed to our nation rather than the legislature or any particular group. And it suggests that we are all "sinners" who need forgiveness for the list he enumerated.

I won't speak for what he defines as sin. For me sin is what we do, intentionally or unintentionally, knowingly or unknowingly, that spoils God's perfect Creation by harming ourselves and/or others. I[m pretty sure the pastor saw all those things he listed as being harmful to ourselves and/or others.
 
AlbqOwl said:
An interesting perspective. Others would say that it was a prayer of confession, and that would absolutely make it a prayer.
Click to expand...

It boils down to the motives. If you buy into the idea that he genuinely offered this prayer up to God and was oblivious to the political undertones, then this may be a prayer of confession. But it's very difficult given where the prayer occurred, its aftermath, and its continued usage as political propaganda, to buy into the idea that this was merely a sincere prayer. It seems more likely that he took advantage of this invitation to pray in order to give a political speech disguised as a prayer; a political speech which he was NOT invited to give.

He successfully turned what is usually a moment of harmony and unity into a moment of divisive politics where multiple people walked out, it became a media talking point, and to this day continues to be used as political propaganda. That's just about the worst result you could hope for from an opening prayer.
 
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CrabCake said:
It boils down to the motives. If you buy into the idea that he genuinely offered this prayer up to God and was oblivious to the political undertones, then this may be a prayer of confession. But it's very difficult given where the prayer occurred, its aftermath, and its continued usage as political propaganda, to buy into the idea that this was merely a sincere prayer. It seems more likely that he took advantage of this invitation to pray in order to give a political speech disguised as a prayer; a political speech which he was NOT invited to give.

He successfully turned what is usually a moment of harmony and unity into a moment of divisive politics where multiple people walked out, it became a media talking point, and to this day continues to be used as political propaganda. That's just about the worst result you could hope for from an opening prayer.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. But if he felt guided by God to give that prayer, then as a child of God he would likely choose to obey God. The thing is, neither of us know what his motives are or what prompted him to give that prayer. He might be the world's most apolitical person for all we know of him. There are many good, honest, honorable people who believe that the truth should be spoken when silence is interpreted as consent for sin.
 
AlbqOwl said:
Perhaps. But if he felt guided by God to give that prayer, then as a child of God he would likely choose to obey God. The thing is, neither of us know what his motives are or what prompted him to give that prayer. He might be the world's most apolitical person for all we know of him. There are many good, honest, honorable people who believe that the truth should be spoken when silence is interpreted as consent for sin.
Click to expand...

No. I think any intelligent person can come to an informed conclusion on what the likely intent behind this person's political speech was.

As for whether God told him to do this, it's easy to tell. We apply the principle of Matthe 7:18. We know by its fruits. Did it bring people together, inspire greater unity, encourage a reverence of God, encourage the congress to work for the greater good? or did it create division, disorder, and animosity? What were the results of this speech disguised as prayer?
 
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CrabCake said:
No. I think any intelligent person can come to an informed conclusion on what the likely intent behind this person's political speech was.

As for whether God told him to do this, it's easy to tell. We apply the principle of Matthe 7:18. We know by its fruits. Did it bring people together, inspire greater unity, encourage a reverence of God, encourage the congress to work for the greater good? or did it create division, disorder, and animosity? What were the results of this speech disguised as prayer?
Click to expand...

You cannot legitimately take that verse out of its full context my friend and his full context with that sentence referred to false prophets as the 'bad fruit'. Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount was no more gentle in telling the truth than Pastor Wright was in his prayer in the OP. He rubbed a whole bunch of people the wrong way and certainly did not bring those together with those who heard and heeded the message he taught.
 
AlbqOwl said:
You cannot legitimately take that verse out of its full context my friend and his full context with that sentence referred to false prophets as the 'bad fruit'.
Click to expand...

You are incorrect.
Here is the actual context:
Matthew 7:15-16 said:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.
Click to expand...

So, what is the bad fruit here? The prophets aren't the bad fruit (which is your claim). The results of their work are bad fruit and that is how you recognize them. It couldn't be any clearer. Jesus taught that you would recognize bad teachers because the things they teach lead to bad results.

AlbqOwl said:
Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount was no more gentle in telling the truth than Pastor Wright was in his prayer in the OP. He rubbed a whole bunch of people the wrong way and certainly did not bring those together with those who heard and heeded the message he taught.
Click to expand...

First of all, the sermon on the mount was a sermon Jesus preached to his disciples. Therein is the power of the sermon; he took his disciples to the mountaintop, away from the crowd, and taught them the deeper truths they were ready for and the crowd was not.

Second of all, which part is it you think wasn't gentle? The sermon on the mount talks about Christian virtue and how to find genuine fulfillment/happiness/bliss ("makarios" which is often translated as "blessed").

Third, my claim wasn't that all sermons must be gentle. My claim was that you will recognize from its fruits whether it was from God. Jonah preached a very strong message of judgement over Nineveh, the fruits of which were that Nineveh repented and God forgave them. There is nothing wrong with a strong message. But when the message breeds hatred, division, chaos, distrust, etc. It is almost guaranteed that it originated with the enemy and not with God.
 
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AlbqOwl said:
Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...

this crap has no place in are government so don't like the entire thing

but

this guys religion is apparently bull **** as much any one else-es so **** him on the 1st 2

seems to be complaining about homosexuality on the 3rd one since that's natural and not hurting any one again **** this jerk

exploiting the poor is bad but its there forgiveness you need not a gods

well fair is helping those in need more then helping the lazy so again guys a jerk but the biblical god should be pleased with that 1

abortion seems to be ok as a fetus is not a person and any all powerful gods should be able to reincarnate those souls without to much trouble may involve animal suffering but the biblical god is not above that and is actually at fault for it if the god exists

its wrong to shoot an abortionist but im pretty sure no 1 he was addressing had done so and again its not the god that deserves the apology

don't think most parents never discipline there kids but i guess it would be wrong to let them do whatever they want so whatever

um stealing is bad working for what you want is not bad in of itself only if you neglect more important things in that per suit avian only peel erected need an apology over that

i do like the porn so if people want to make it then that seems ok don't know why the god who made a sex drive is owed an apology over that 1

ridiculing traditional values when there wrong is good this guy just dosent like that other people dont share his values again **** em
 
AlbqOwl said:
All corporate prayers in the presence of a gathering will incorporate the so-called 'royal we' as he who prays is praying for an entire gathering or group or institution or nation. In this case I don't know, but I would guess a substantial majority would see that prayer as directed to our nation rather than the legislature or any particular group. And it suggests that we are all "sinners" who need forgiveness for the list he enumerated.
Click to expand...
I was being a little flippant to be honest and did see the wider context of the “we” in this “prayer”, which is really a political statement about government policy as much as anything else. The general point is that many Christians, especially Evangelicals, while talking-the-talk about us all being sinners, tend to concentrate almost exclusively on the sins of others rather than their own (if they truly believe they’re guilty of any at all).

As for the list, I strongly object to the implication that I’m guilty of the things on it or that where the things implied are done they’re automatically wrong.

AlbqOwl said:
I won't speak for what he defines as sin.
Click to expand...
That’s a major part of the problem isn’t it. If there isn’t a definitive definition of what a sin is, how can we possibly avoid committing them or recognise when we have? There’s no point having a set of rules if nobody understands what they are (anyone up for a round of “Mornington Crescent”? :) ).
 
CrabCake said:
You are incorrect.
Here is the actual context:


So, what is the bad fruit here? The prophets aren't the bad fruit (which is your claim). The results of their work are bad fruit and that is how you recognize them. It couldn't be any clearer. Jesus taught that you would recognize bad teachers because the things they teach lead to bad results.



First of all, the sermon on the mount was a sermon Jesus preached to his disciples. Therein is the power of the sermon; he took his disciples to the mountaintop, away from the crowd, and taught them the deeper truths they were ready for and the crowd was not.

Second of all, which part is it you think wasn't gentle? The sermon on the mount talks about Christian virtue and how to find genuine fulfillment/happiness/bliss ("makarios" which is often translated as "blessed").

Third, my claim wasn't that all sermons must be gentle. My claim was that you will recognize from its fruits whether it was from God. Jonah preached a very strong message of judgement over Nineveh, the fruits of which were that Nineveh repented and God forgave them. There is nothing wrong with a strong message. But when the message breeds hatred, division, chaos, distrust, etc. It is almost guaranteed that it originated with the enemy and not with God.
Click to expand...

The message of Jonah was not that the people of Ninevah repented, but that Jonah did not want to help them and, when sort of forced to do so, resented it that they repented. He lost his justification to hate them and refused to accept that. It was a story about hearing and obeying God and the stiff necks of those who think they know more or better than God and who think they are more deserving that the sinful.

The Sermon on the Mount was not delivered exclusively to the 12 apostles but to the 'large multitude of disciples' that had assembled to hear him. Most Bible scholars believe the Sermon on the Mount was likely not a single sermon but rather a compilation of teachings of Jesus, but I don't worry about whether it was one way or the other.

The point is, he was definitely critical and pretty rough in that sermon and went against many of the legalistic dictates of the Pharisees. He was very much politically incorrect. It was that political incorrectness that was the justification for the Pharisees to want him killed.

Sometimes I think the more vindictive among the political correct in these times would also order somebody killed if they could. Since they can't do that, they settle for attempts to silence, deny a forum to, boycott, forbid, punish, destroy the livelihood of those who dare to be politically incorrect.
 
blarg said:
this crap has no place in are government so don't like the entire thing

but

this guys religion is apparently bull **** as much any one else-es so **** him on the 1st 2

seems to be complaining about homosexuality on the 3rd one since that's natural and not hurting any one again **** this jerk

exploiting the poor is bad but its there forgiveness you need not a gods

well fair is helping those in need more then helping the lazy so again guys a jerk but the biblical god should be pleased with that 1

abortion seems to be ok as a fetus is not a person and any all powerful gods should be able to reincarnate those souls without to much trouble may involve animal suffering but the biblical god is not above that and is actually at fault for it if the god exists

its wrong to shoot an abortionist but im pretty sure no 1 he was addressing had done so and again its not the god that deserves the apology

don't think most parents never discipline there kids but i guess it would be wrong to let them do whatever they want so whatever

um stealing is bad working for what you want is not bad in of itself only if you neglect more important things in that per suit avian only peel erected need an apology over that

i do like the porn so if people want to make it then that seems ok don't know why the god who made a sex drive is owed an apology over that 1

ridiculing traditional values when there wrong is good this guy just dosent like that other people dont share his values again **** em
Click to expand...

Okay.
 
HonestJoe said:
I was being a little flippant to be honest and did see the wider context of the “we” in this “prayer”, which is really a political statement about government policy as much as anything else. The general point is that many Christians, especially Evangelicals, while talking-the-talk about us all being sinners, tend to concentrate almost exclusively on the sins of others rather than their own (if they truly believe they’re guilty of any at all).

As for the list, I strongly object to the implication that I’m guilty of the things on it or that where the things implied are done they’re automatically wrong.

That’s a major part of the problem isn’t it. If there isn’t a definitive definition of what a sin is, how can we possibly avoid committing them or recognise when we have? There’s no point having a set of rules if nobody understands what they are (anyone up for a round of “Mornington Crescent”? :) ).
Click to expand...

:) We definitely do need a qualifier or sarcasm emoticon don't we.

Again, I define sin as that which harms ourselves and/or others whether or not we understand what we are doing or whether the harm is intentional. I am pretty sure the pastor in that prayer identified the things that he enumerated in that prayer as sin or else we would not need forgiveness for it. The sin does not have to be committed by us personally, but can be a corporate sin committed by our social group or society. In such context--consider the message of Amos for example--that sin which we condone or do not speak out against becomes our sin too.
 
AlbqOwl said:
The message of Jonah was not that the people of Ninevah repented, but that Jonah did not want to help them and, when sort of forced to do so, resented it that they repented. He lost his justification to hate them and refused to accept that. It was a story about hearing and obeying God and the stiff necks of those who think they know more or better than God and who think they are more deserving that the sinful.
Click to expand...

What does this have to do with anything I said?

I wasn't claiming to be providing a synopsis of the core message of The Book of Jonah. I was giving one example of a strong, non-gentle message that resulted in good fruit.

AlbqOwl said:
The Sermon on the Mount was not delivered exclusively to the 12 apostles but to the 'large multitude of disciples' that had assembled to hear him.
Click to expand...

Right, I never said it was for just the 12 in his inner circle. More likely it included at least the 70. The point was that Jesus saw the crowds and went away from the crowds toward the mountaintop, taking his disciples with him. His goal wasn't to preach to the multitude, but to his disciples.

AlbqOwl said:
The point is, he was definitely critical and pretty rough in that sermon and went against many of the legalistic dictates of the Pharisees. He was very much politically incorrect. It was that political incorrectness that was the justification for the Pharisees to want him killed.
Click to expand...

Not really. There's maybe one reference to the hypocrites that hypocrites would certainly find offensive, and what he says about divorce would of course have been a direct challenge to the followers of Hillel (though putting him in the side of Shammai pretty much makes this a wash). On the whole it's not a rough message at all. Do you want to point out some parts you think are critical, politically incorrect, etc.?
 
AlbqOwl said:
Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...

No, I really wouldn't have appreciated this prayer.
 
AlbqOwl said:
Many believe that Christians are commanded to love the sinners but speak out against sin. Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita delivered the following prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996. It is again circulating via e-mail and seems to be as pertinent as ever. Does anybody have a problem with this? (I chose Snopes as the credible link just to save time.)


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"
Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation : snopes.com​

Would you have appreciated this prayer if you had been in attendance? Or bristled a bit at some of the 'sins' included?
Click to expand...

I would have looked at some of those prayers, disagreed with the wording/framing, and decided that we are better off as a society for many of those things having happened. 1,2,3,5,6,11,12 are all things we are better off for, even if the wording of the prayer itself frame them negatively.
 
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