To be read by any of the speakers with the courage to hear an opposing viewpoint
[Note: After FFRF explained the First Amendment to Glencoe, AL., the city removed a Christian flag flying over city. On Saturday, July 18, residents are rallying at city hall to pray for FFRF staff and mourn the flag’s removal.]
Well done for assembling to exercise your First Amendment rights in the correct fashion, with a polite protest. I understand that you are “going to be praying for the men and women at the Freedom from Religion Foundation.”
Even assuming that these prayers will be given from a place of kindness rather than condescension, please don’t. We’d prefer you take the two minutes in which you were going to pray and do something useful. Pick up a piece of litter. Call a family member or friend you’ve lost touch with and tell them that you love them. Donate $5 to Doctors without Borders. Hell, donate a dime to Doctors without Borders; that dime will have an infinitely bigger impact than your prayers.
FFRF employees are some of the most prayed for people in the nation, and some of the most irreverent. Prayer doesn’t work. Prayer simply allows you to feel like you are doing something, when really, you are only talking to yourself. It lets you feel good about doing nothing. So instead, take that two minutes and do something else.
You might even consider reading Matthew 6:5-6, which condemns people who pray in public as hypocrites. Take the two minutes and go look up that passage. Or read some of the bible verses that will be left out of today’s rally. Go read 1 Timothy 2:12, which tells women to keep quiet. Or Psalm 137:9, which recommends dashing babies on rocks. Or peruse 1 Peter 2:18, which permits slavery. Or read the book of Joshua, which catalogs some 70 genocides committed by God’s chosen people. Or actually think about Noah’s flood, in which your god murders nearly every innocent child, newborn baby, puppy, and kitten on the planet.
In all likelihood, some of the speakers today will claim that Christians are being persecuted in this country. You’re not. Being forced to obey the law like everyone else is not persecution. Removing unwarranted and unconstitutional privilege is not persecution. Government privilege and favoritism for one particular religion violates our godless constitution. The time of Christian privilege is coming to an end.
One final word about the Christian flags now flown on your own property: Exactly! Put whatever you want on your own property, just keep it off government property. If you want a nativity scene, put one in your yard or donate one to your church. Just keep it off public property. If you want to teach your children about Jesus, do so at home or in church, not in a public school. The government and government property belongs to “We the people,” not just Christians.
