The superintendent of the Virginia State Police has ruled that public prayers given by his chaplains will be limited to the non-sectarian variety. That means they will not be allowed to make references to Jesus Christ or use any other kind of Christianity-specific terminology in their public prayers, although this restriction will not apply to prayers conducted with individuals and families. As a result, six chaplains have resigned from the force in protest.
This ruling is apparently a politically-correct effort to avoid offending people who adhere to other faiths. However, it makes no sense. If the goal is to avoid offending people, why even allow public prayers at all? Aren't there atheists who live in Virginia? Some of them surely take exception to the idea that some state employees publicly pray to a higher being while on the job.
Obviously, this is nothing more than a politically motivated move – an effort to appease a vocal, yet powerful, minority of Virginians who worship in mosques on Fridays or synagogues on Saturdays. I have nothing against Muslims, Jews, Hindus, or anyone else, and I believe they should be allowed to practice their religions as they see fit, without interference from the government. But at the same time, I don't see why the government can't show some favoritism to the majority religion, just as it shows favoritism to religious people in general over non-religious people. There is an inconsistency here.
And Governor Tim Kaine's response to lawmakers' criticism of this ruling was just as ridiculous. He claims to be a "devout Christian," but part of the logic he uses to defend the ruling calls his knowledge of Christianity into question. Initially, he said he was going to support this ruling because Virginia is, religiously, a diverse and pluralistic state. He should have quit while he was ahead. He then went on to say that a lack of references to Jesus Christ doesn't adversely affect his prayer life. Really? Does he not understand that Christians believe Jesus (the Son) is the only path to God (the Father)? Doesn't he know that it is not possible for a Christian to pray directly to God and that Jesus must act as his or her intercessor? Apparently, he doesn't.
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, amateur political analyst, and blogger from Virginia, USA. He posts a least one article a day to his blog - http://commenterry.blogs.com - on subjects such as current events, politics, technology, society and culture, religion, health and well-being, self improvement, personal finance, trivia, and sports.
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