Of Prayer, Misguidance, and Wow...

Although the vast realm of information on the web is available to me whenever I sit at my computer, I generally hover around a set number of sites and, unless provoked otherwise, rarely deviate from my practice.

One is the weather channel's website. It is an obvious choice for me as my current vocation is construction, and as ninety percent of what I'm doing is outdoors, checking the weather is paramount.

One of the other's is the Drudge Report. It is on this news venue that I found an article, with a video, that showed the first ever Hindu prayer being offered to open the US Senate. Evidently some of the observers found this repugnant and began to heckle the Hindi chaplain, so much so that the Sergeant At Arms was called on to remove them.

Some of the comments thrown down were loud prayers to the effect of, "Lord Jesus, please forgive us for allowing the prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight..."

Now, I personally think that the prayer of the Hindu chaplain was a bit on the ridiculous side. I do not think that Hinduism is right, and I do not think that a person can be reconciled to God by following those religious rituals.

However, the people who took it upon themselves to disrupt the activity displayed a peculiar misunderstanding of the role of Christianity as it pertains to the government of this country.

This is not a Christian nation. Our government is not Christian. The values and principles held by the majority of our citizens, as evidenced by their conduct and lifestyles, do not reflect that which could be attributed to 'divine inspiration'. Think of government protected murder of innocent babies. Think of government interference in the internal affairs of other countries, going so far as to carry out assassination of foreign leaders. Think of government funding of less-than-savory foreign leaders who later turn out to be a thorn in the flesh (ala Saddam Hussein). Think of government participation in the removal of symbols of Judeo-Christian values (Ten Commandment monuments). Think of a grossly out-of-control tax code that punishes people who work hard and rewards those who do not.

Think of government singing and praying "God Bless America" to a God who opposes the proud, and then slaps on bumper stickers that say "The Power of Pride." Think of government elbowing their way around the world as if they owned it, trampling on local cultures, sapping foreign resources, and taking part in a world banking system that forces third world countries to plunge further into debt, thus enabling corrupt and evil leaders. Think of government calling those who kill a few thousand of us terrorists, but calling the death of hundreds of thousands of foreign civilians in a war we are fighting 'human collateral'.

Now, I am not saying that terrorist attacks are somehow good and defendable, but let's call a spade a spade. War and death of any kind is terror.

Since when has it been 'Christian' to cheer for any side in war?

But I digress.

A hindu prays to open the Senate. How is a hindu prayer any more an affront to God inside the Senate chamber, as it is outside it? How is that prayer any more an affront to God than a nation that is endowed with unimaginable wealth daily asking God to bless it further when daily we, as citizens of that nation, take part in actions that spit on His mercy, thus supremely blaspheming His name?

I say, "Wow." You want to be relevant in this bizarre culture? Quite condemning the culture. It is condemned already. That is what Jesus says. Do what you've been told to do and revolutionize it with supernatural love. Get off the high horse of spiritualism and get down in the muck and mire of a lost world.

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