Mark Small

If they wrote the prayer, one reasonably may infer, words would praise/supplicate 2 the supreme deity of the Old Testament. This is a focus many ppl, including a great many Christians, would object for their kids. 7/20

In services I attended mid- to late 1970s as I researched 4 a novel, some preachers demeaned baptism other than by complete immersion as “only sprinkling” & derided Roman Catholicism “worships of idols,” i.e. statutes. 8/20

We form a committee of ministers & priests to draft a prayer to supreme deity, whose only begotten son ... We would have problems because the “only begotten son” thing is Christian: not everyone is a Christian. 9/20

We would have to accommodate members of the Hebrew faith. New Testament says Jesus was a Jew. Both religions are based on covenant w/Abraham. There still would be opposition from a lot of Christians & members of Hebrew faith. 10/20

Also, if we look at religions based on Abraham, et al, must include members of the Islamic faith. If one does not believe me, read the holy book of Islam. I have. I also have studied other religions. 11/20

For some weird reason, I think so-called religious people around dt would go into seizures were they to include, or be allowed to include, reference to Islam’s supreme deity in their prayer. 12/20

Well, nuts. We seem to hit some barriers. Of course, in Indiana in recent years, many people have settled into our communities. Many are Hindus. Other Asians who have settled here are Buddhists. 13/20

We have home-grown and imported Wiccans, of a wide variety of interpretations of the cosmos. 14/20

Hypothetical: we expand committee 2 include everyone Ive listed. We might have a prayer to an amorphous, vague deity to whom children, in unison, would say, at start of each day: “Yay-rah god! Let’s have a good day!” 15/20

Oops, I forgot. There also are agnostics and atheists. We would shorten the “prayer” by that point to: “Yay-rah! Let’s have a good day!” 16/20

Ours is a secular govt. Benj Franklin, at 1787 Const’l Convention, proposed each session begin with prayer. His suggestion was voted down. Collier, Decision at Philadelphia, 1986 ed., p. 162; Stewart, The Summer of 1787, p. 103. 17/20

U.S. Const. Art VI: “...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” 18/20

If religious training of children is important to people of specific beliefs, they can raise their kids in those beliefs. They simply should not force those beliefs on others. 19/20