Is, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save...?
Two applause lines that ought to be forever excised from every Christian speaker, preacher, leader, and talk show host's material:
We've removed God from our schoolsWe've removed prayer from our schools
Is God so weak that He can be summarily kicked out of public schools by a vote of the school board, the legislature, the Supreme Court?
Is God so uncaring and unconcerned that He would simply leave our schools when a few strident, perhaps hostile voices demand that He do so?
Is prayer redefined so that if it is not verbal and audible that it is not prayer?
Is the prayer by state paid bureaucrats offered over children of such great value that every national tragedy, every mass murder to be attributed to the lack thereof?
There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle:
- A gun loving, doomsdayer, affluent middle-aged woman...
- ...who was the mother of a troubled child whom she taught to use weapons...
- ...which child likely practiced in fantasy scenarios...
- ...before selecting classrooms of innocents for reality.
The churches I have pastored have had members who were public school teachers, public school administrators, and elected board of education members and legislators as members. None of these, not one, were hostile to the things of God blamed by cheapshot public commentators for the latest, horrible tragedy.
That there is some degree, small overall I would say, hostility to the things of God in our society is manifest, but we are a highly religious society with churches everywhere. I'm having difficulty imagining the frail God who is rendered impotent by public officials. That is not our God.
Mike Huckabee, when asked how he reacted as a pastor and what he would say to those who had suffered unspeakable losses, wisely said that he would say little or nothing but offer hugs and tears.
That was sage advice. He should listen to himself.
7 comments:
We have a short memory. These prayers were written and recited back in the 50-60's, because they thought things were bad then too. Just look at all the things that having "God" in the schools did not prevent. Mass killings were actually higher than today in the 20's. Eugenics was thought to be a foundational principle for everything from marriage counseling to education.
PS - I know I summed up decades and may have cherry picked a little, but those who say that removing prayer from school are more fallacious.
Jerry Falwell, Mike Huckabee, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson apparently had the same theology and pastoral care instructor: The Reverend Dr. Foote N. Mauth.
Thank you for effectively expressing what many of us are thinking.
William, are you referring to this?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151195531403915
Doesn't appear that Huckabee ever said "we kicked God out of school" as the reason it happened....he took a wider view of things.
Huckabee's comments, heard from his mouth and not the press, were not out of line.
We are a culture that has removed the concept of answering to a Supreme Being for our actions.
As to Dobson and others saying what he says?
I honestly don't know if God has removed His hand of protection from us as a judgement for sin. If he has, things are going to get much much worse.
My grandmother remembered some preachers saying the dustbowl was God's judgement, and others reviling them for saying it.
But she would tell you, as a dusted out Okie, that it was followed by a mighty outpouring of revival lasting in some areas well over 20 years.
Linda
ET, here's the quote: “Well, you know, it’s an interesting thing,” Huckabee said. “We ask why there’s violence in our schools, but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?”
He has since revised and expanded his remarks.
It is easy to blame society, overindulgent mothers, absent fathers, divorce, guns, etc.
Huckabee gained my respect when he was running for president but has lost a good bit of it since for a number of reasons.
Actually in the initial interview he did go on to explain that we have removed the concept of answering ultimately to a Supreme Being from our culture.
He's right about that--believer or not, saved or not, we used to be a culture that believed in eternal hell.
Most in our culture seem not to now, with the result that if they can plan a crime and "get away with it" humanly speaking, they figure there will be no repercussions.
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