Prayer Banned in Washington Town — Nobody Cares

The Vader City Council in Washington state voted on Thursday to eliminate the invocation at public meetings. As the local newspaper reported, they "voted to ban the practice of performing a Christian prayer."  Only Mayor Ken Smith spoke in favor of the invocations, but both he and Councilor Joe Schey, who said he believes public prayer is constitutionally protected, quickly yielded their position.

No one in the community of several hundred people bothered to comment.

For background, read U.S. Supreme Court 2014 Ruling Allows Christian Prayer in Civic Meetings, in fact Supreme Court Justice Scalia Said Government Should Favor God of the Bible

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Washington School Football Coach Forced to Stop Praying AFTER Games

'Creepy' Pastors Banned from Washington School

Loud Muslim Prayer: Takeover of Michigan Town

Also read how pubic invocations across America are being commandeered by atheists and satanists.

-- From "Vader City Council Votes to Ban Prayer at Meetings" by Jordan Nailon, The Chronicle (Centralia, WA) 4/29/16

Councilor Judi Costello was the first to speak out about the practice of invocation, stating her belief that conducting a prayer at the beginning of city council meetings represented a violation of the necessary separation of church and state.

Councilor Jason Dailey also disapproved of the invocations due to issues arising from the constitutionally prescribed separation of religion and government.

Councilor Andy Wilson noted that he was also against the practice, although he cited time constraints as the lone reason.

There were no comments from the crowd regarding the practice of meeting invocations.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Washington State Opens All Ladies' Rooms to Men, and then Women's Voices are Silenced

Muslim Prayer Ends Invocation Policy: N. Carolina

Carrol Mitchem, Chairman of the Lincoln County (North Carolina) Board of Commissioners, in May had stated his opposition to any Muslim invocation at public meetings, but atheists' legal threats forced the Commission to pass an all-inclusive policy.  As Monday's meeting began with a Muslim prayer, Mitchem walked out; later in the meeting, the Commission revised the policy to eliminate all prayers, of any kind.

“From the comments I got from (the other commissioners), saying that they were impressed with the all-embracing statements that were made in my invocation, that the recitation from the Quran was something that everyone could relate to, (that’s a win).”
-- Duston Barto, Foothills Interfaith Assembly (created to deliver non-Christian prayers at government meetings)

For background, read Muslim & Atheist Prayers OKd in Lincoln County, North Carolina

UPDATE 9/20/15: Only Christian Prayers Allowed by Arizona City

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Florida Battles Satanic 'Prayer' City-by-City

Christian Prayer Outrages California City Council

Texas Sharia Tribunal Judge Gives Muslim Prayer at Rodeo

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Also read Pseudo Prayer Mandatory at School in San Francisco



-- From "County commissioners end invocations after chair walks out" by The Associated Press 8/4/15

Local media outlets report commission chairman Carrol Mitchem left Monday's meeting after the leader of an interfaith group began his prayer. After the prayer, the commissioners took their action, replacing prayers with a moment of silence.

Commissioner Cecelia Martin first suggested the moment of silence in May, but the motion was defeated. A prayer policy was adopted that allowed any local religious leader or representative of that denomination to deliver an invocation.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Commissioners opt for moment of silence after Muslim prayer" by Adam Lawson, Staff Writer, Lincoln Times-News 8/5/15

. . . After chastising Board of Commissioners Chairman Carrol Mitchem for walking out of the chamber prior to Barto’s speech, Commissioner Alex Patton motioned to scrap the county’s barely two-month-old all-inclusive invocation policy for a moment of silence.

Members of the Foothills Interfaith Assembly, which Barto formed along with Wiccan priest Tony Brown, questioned the timing of the decision — which occurred only after a non-Christian delivered a prayer — and the fact that it occurred without allowing public comment. Hickory Humanist Alliance member William Keener was set to give the invocation at the Aug. 17 meeting, but that has now been effectively canceled.

Patton said the decision came as a result of a lack of participation from area churches.

“The problem is there is 102 churches in Lincoln County, plus these that have popped up recently from other religions,” Patton said. “(County clerk Amy Atkins) can’t advertise, so there’s no real way to get them in.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Governing bodies take notice of Supreme Court ruling on prayer at public meetings" by Elizabeth Heffner, Staff Writer, Lincoln Times-News 5/12/14

The U.S. Supreme Court has given [last year] limited approval to public prayers at a New York town’s board meeting, citing the country’s history of religious acknowledgement in its legislature.

“There was a ruling today by the Supreme Court, if I understand this correctly, that now any government can pray to the Lord, to Jesus — however you want to pray, you can pray,” [Carroll] Mitchem said.

“I hope in the future that we, as commissioners, go back to our original way of having prayers and saying what we want to say. Now, if somebody don’t like it, they get up, walk out and leave so we can pray the way we want to pray. If they don’t like it, they can leave and then come back in afterwards. I hope to continue that as long as I have a mind and body…at the next commissioner meeting, I expect us to pray the way we want to pray.”

Commissioner Alex Patton agreed with Mitchem’s request.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Atheist Prayer Complaint Costs Mississippi School $7500+

And read Texas School Supt. Tells Atheists to Go Fly a Kite

Atheists Knock Christmas Cross Off IL Water Tower

After a 40-year tradition in Alsip, Illinois, there won't be a lighted cross on the village water tower for Christmas this year.  The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened a lawsuit if the cross lit up another year.  The mayor said Alsip can't afford the legal battle.  Not a word has been heard from local churches on the matter.

-- From "'Nobody Ever Complained' About Cross: Alsip Mayor" by Nick Swedberg, Oak Lawn Patch 11/20/12

Alsip Mayor Patrick Kitching told Patch on Monday that the Freedom from Religion Foundation's asked the village remove a cross, which has been stored on top of the West 119th Street water tower year round and lighted every holiday season for almost 40 years.

"They tried to get me to take it down last year and I just ignored them," Kitching said.

The cross has been used by Alsip since 1973 as part of the village's municipal Christmas —until last week. Alsip removed the cross and is now looking at an alternative decoration for the water tower at West 119th Street.

The Alsip mayor said he didn't want to spend taxpayer money on a legal battle that was likely unwinnable. Rulings have consistently favored those who have brought court cases against municipalities displaying religious imagery on public land or property.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Lawsuit threat means Alsip Christmas tradition gets crossed off" by Steve Metsch, Southtown Star (Chicago Sun-Times) 11/20/12

In a letter to residents and businesses, Kitching wrote: “I am very saddened by this and had hoped we would not have to change tradition. However, in these economic times, the village cannot afford to waste any tax dollars on a lawsuit that simply cannot be won.

Contacted Monday at the village hall, Kitching said, “I know we can’t win. There’s no point in fighting it.”

“I really am [offended]. It’s a tradition, and our tradition has been slapped down. They told me an anonymous [Alsip resident] complained. I doubt that,” Kitching said. “I think they (foundation members) were driving down the tollway and saw our cross.”

Kitching has not heard from any churches in Alsip since the announcement was made.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

America: A Nation at War with God

"As the church goes, so goes the nation; as the pastor goes, so goes the church. What we have in America is a preacher problem."

-- From "Pastors taken to task for political apathy" by Drew Zahn © 2010 WorldNetDaily 9/16/10

. . . Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America . . . a former Southern Baptist minister, told the audience his story of recognizing the need for pastors to snap out of political complacency and get involved in the cultural war for the soul of the nation.

He had attended a sexual education presentation at his daughter's high school in the 1990s, only to discover a message of sexual license and perversity that shocked him. When he brought a transcript of the presentation to his church, the building was filled with people equally stunned.

Shortly thereafter, Scarborough explained at [the conference] "Taking America Back," he began to free his congregation from excessive church responsibilities to take up civic duties. Members of his church were elected to the school board and city council and began to reassert Christian values in the public arena.

"We just got the people in the churches to stand up and do what they ought to be doing," Scarborough said.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

When the Church Fails HIS Mission, All Suffer

The church's failure to respond adequately to the relentless and ubiquitous promulgation of profoundly sinful ideas reveals an unbiblical doubt in the sovereignty of God; an unconscionable refusal to protect children . . .

Will the contemporary American church rise to this occasion to defend children and biblical truth . . .?

Scroll down to video of July 1, 2009 "Who's to Blame"


-- From "Anger and the Church" by Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute 7/22/09

There are some battles in which all Christians and all who are committed to truth are called to engage: all Christians should have opposed slavery; all Christians should have fought for the civil rights of blacks; all Christians are called to oppose abortion; and we are all called to oppose the rancorous, pernicious demands to affirm homosexual acts as moral. The question as to why so many Christians, particularly church leaders, refuse to engage in this battle is a vexing question.

In his book Kingdoms in Conflict, Chuck Colson writes about the failure of the church to oppose the extermination of Jews and the government usurpation of control of the church in Nazi Germany. Immediately following the naming of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, the persecution of the church began in earnest. In response, a resistance movement sprang up headed by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Initially, they had the support of the dominant Protestant group, the German Evangelical Church, but as the persecution increased, so did the cowardice and concomitant rationalization of cowardice on the parts of most church leaders. In Germany only a remnant, who came to call themselves the Confessing Church, remained standing courageously in the gap for truth.

The German Evangelical Church acted in ways most Christians now view as ignoble, selfish, and cowardly:

Pastors resigned from the resistance out of fear that they might lose their positions in the church.

Frightened by the boldness of the resistance movement, church leaders issued public statements of support for Hitler and the Third Reich.

Some pastors believed that a "'more reasonable tone would be more honoring to those with different views.'" One bishop told Martin Niemoller that those pastors who refused to join the resistance were "'trying to bring peace to the church'" rather than "'seem like . . . troublemakers.'" In response, Niemoller asked "'What does it matter how we look in Germany compared with how we look in Heaven?'" The bishop responded, "'We cannot pronounce judgment on all the ills of society. Most especially we ought not single out the one issue that the government is so sensitive about.'"

In a conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one young pastor justified capitulation like this: "'. . . [T]here are no pastorates for those of us who will not cooperate. What is the good in preaching if you have no congregation? Where will this noncooperation lead us? We are no longer a recognized body; we have no government assistance; we cannot care for the souls in the armed forces or give religion lessons in schools. What will become of the church if that continues? A heap of rubble!'"

What is alarming about the account of the German Evangelical Church's reprehensible failure is its similarity to the ongoing disheartening story of the contemporary American church's failure to respond appropriately to the spread of radical, heretical, destructive views of homosexuality. Don't we today see church leaders self-censoring out of fear of losing their positions or their church members? Don't we see churches criticizing those who boldly confront the efforts of homosexual activists to propagandize children and undermine the church's teaching on homosexuality? Aren't the calls of the capitulating German Christians for "a more reasonable tone" and a commitment to "honor different views" exactly like the calls of today's church to be tolerant and honor "diversity"? Don't pastors justify their silence by claiming they fear losing their tax-exempt status (i.e. government assistance)? Don't they rationalize inaction by claiming that speaking out will prevent them from saving souls?

What is even more reprehensible in America, however, is that church leaders don't currently face loss of livelihood, imprisonment, exile, or death, as they did in Germany, and yet they remain silent.

To read the entire commentary, which includes further references, CLICK HERE.

Marriage Death by a Thousand Cuts

Remember that President Obama said during his campaign, and posted officially on the White House website, that same-sex couples should have "all the benefits that are available for a legally sanctioned marriage" (click for Obama video).

UPDATE 7/15/09: Huffington Post writer mirrors this Blog's discernment

-- From "States grant more rights to gay couples" by Carol J. Williams, posted at the Chicago Tribune 5/6/09

. . . referring to rights incrementally accorded gay couples that have led to virtual equality between same-sex and heterosexual unions in states where gay marriage remains banned, a growing trend . . .

These rights are expanding as legally married gay couples relocate to states that don't allow gay marriage, forcing courts, legislatures and employers to deal with a new wrinkle on issues of custody, divorce, inheritance and end-of-life decisions.

In New York, which does not allow gay marriage but recognizes those conducted elsewhere, recent court decisions have granted a divorce to two gay men and surviving-spouse benefits to another. In California, federal judges have twice overruled decisions by the federal government to deny health-care coverage to gay employees' legal spouses, teeing up a constitutional challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids federal benefits to same-sex couples.

Rights advocates predict the tide eventually will sweep into some of the 30-plus states that have passed laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

"A body of law is emerging because it has no choice. Cases have been filed, and they have to be decided one way or another," said Joseph Milizio, a Long Island, N.Y., lawyer specializing in gay and lesbian representation.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

(Shhh . . . the church is sleeping)

Media, Secularists Revel in Reporting Failure of Christian Religion

The [Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life] results are a "big indictment" of organized religion, said Michael Lindsay [of Rice University]. "There is a huge, wide-open back door at most churches. Churches around the country may be able to attract people, but they can't keep them."

-- From "Study Shows Americans Leave Religion Due to Drift, Not Rupture" by Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post Staff Writer 4/27/09

The survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is the first large-scale study of the reasons behind Americans switching their religious faith and found that more than half of people have done so at least once during their lifetime.

Pew Forum senior fellow John Green said that result surprised researchers, who had expected policy disputes or disillusionment over internal scandals -- such as the clergy sex abuse controversy in the Catholic Church -- to play more of a role in people's decision to leave a faith. Among former Catholics who became Protestants, one in five cited the sex abuse scandal as one of several reasons why they had left the faith. But only a small percentage -- 2 percent to 3 percent -- cited it as the lone reason.

"It suggests that what leads people to leave their faith is that, somehow for some reason, it isn't meeting their needs," Green said. "Religion becomes less plausible to the person."

At the same time, the large and growing number of people who report having no religious affiliation are actually surprisingly open to religion, researchers said. Contrary to the popular perception that many have embraced secularism, a significant percentage appeared simply to have put their religiosity on pause. Having worshiped in at least one faith already, about three in 10 said they had just not yet found the right religion.

"We tend to think that when people leave [religion] they leave," said Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University. "But a lot of these unaffiliated are unaffiliated for now. . . . It's not a one way street. It's not like after you've left a religious affiliation, you can't get back in."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pew Survey: Most Americans Have Switched Religious Affiliations at Least Once" by Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News & World Report 4/27/09

. . . a recent Trinity College survey found that mainline churches like the Methodists, Lutherans, and Episcopalians are losing numbers while evangelical and nondenominational churches are gaining. There are now 8 million nondenominational Christians, according to the Trinity report, up from 2.5 million in 2001.

The Pew report also provides a striking new portrait of those religiously unaffiliated Americans, the fastest-growing segment of the American religious landscape. The report finds that religiously unaffiliated, widely considered to represent a dramatic spike in avowed secularists, are actually quite open to religion and that only a minority feel that science disproves religion.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Survey finds majority of Americans switch religions" by Matthai Kuruvila, San Fran. Chronicle Religion Writer 4/27/09

Catholics who leave the fold largely do so because they disagree with church teachings, while Protestants who leave their particular denominations tend to do so because of life changes, such as marriage or moving.

The survey found that American religious identity moves in all directions. No category of belief is fixed. Even among people raised unaffiliated with any religion, 54 percent now claim a specific religious identity and account for 4 percent of the U.S. population.

One of the few constants is the proportion of Americans who are atheists - roughly 2 percent of the general population for decades. Indeed, even as an increasing number of people do not identify with any specific religion [due to a] disenchantment with religious people and institutions.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Why do Americans change their faith?" by Michael Paulson, Boston Globe 4/27/09

"Long-term, what this means is that the face of the Catholic Church is going to change dramatically over time," Green said. "There is likely to be continued erosion by Catholics of European background, and the church is going to be increasingly populated by Hispanics and Asians who are immigrating to the US."

"A lot of the switching is intra-Protestant switching, and I think at this point that's not even switching -- hardly anyone knows the difference between a Lutheran and an Episcopalian, or even a Methodist and a Baptist," said Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University. "Lutherans hardly know anything about Luther, and Methodists hardly know anything about Wesley, and they don't care. We live in a postdenominational time."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Read a past article about journalists and their religion (or lack thereof).

Also, here is a thorough graphic of statistics.

Pope: Societies drifting into a "desert of godlessness"

The Pope prayed that Christians would respond to the problem by growing in faith

-- From "Pope's Good Friday message warns of drift into a 'desert of godlessness'" by Stephen Adams, [London] Telegraph 4/11/09

Speaking during the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said that "religious sentiments" were increasingly ranked among the "unwelcome leftovers of antiquity" and held up to scorn and ridicule.

He used this year's Good Friday meditations at the Stations of the Cross to compare attempts to purge religion from public life to the mockery Jesus Christ faced from the mob as he was led out to be crucified.

Speaking at the seventh Station of the Cross, where Jesus is made an "object of fun", he said: "We are shocked to see to what levels of brutality human beings can sink. Jesus is humiliated in new ways even today. When things that are most holy and profound in the faith are being trivialised, the sense of the sacred is allowed to erode.

"Everything in public life risks being desacralised: persons, places, pledges, prayers, practices, words, sacred writings, religious formulae, symbols, ceremonies.

"Our life together is being increasingly secularised. Religious life grows diffident. Thus we see the most momentous matters placed among trifles, and trivialities glorified.

"Values and norms that held societies together and drew people to higher ideals are laughed at and thrown overboard. Jesus continues to be ridiculed!"

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Fewer Americans in Church, Especially Men

. . . America continues to grow in terms of population, but the percentage of Americans attending church on any given weekend keeps declining. In 1990, it was 20.4 percent. In 2000, it was 18.7. In 2007, it was 17.

George H. Gallup, Jr. wrote . . . "A mountain of Gallup survey data attests to the idea that women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation."

-- From "Study finds attendance at churches still falling" by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion News Service 2/28/09

Booming megachurches might grab headlines, but the bigger story of American congregations is one of accelerating decline, according to David T. Olson, the director of the American Church Research Project. Based on data collected from more than 200,000 churches, he projects that by 2050, only 10 percent of Americans will be in church on any given Sunday.

"Since 2001 especially, mainline and Catholic churches have been experiencing severe decline. They are declining much faster than they were in the 1990s. Evangelicals are still growing numerically, but that numeric growth is not keeping up with population growth.

"From 1990 to 2006, there were 68 million new births in America and a net gain of 23 million immigrants, but churches a lot of times are really not looking outside their doors to think about how to connect with those new Americans.

"Christians are increasingly cocooned and live in environments where they may not know many people who are not Christians."

To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.

From "Women More Religious Than Men" by Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director, Live Science 2/28/09

A new analysis of survey data finds women pray more often then men, are more likely to believe in God, and are more religious than men in a variety of other ways.

The percent of women (and then men) who:

• Are affiliated with a religion: 86 (79).
• Have absolutely certain belief in a God or universal spirit: 77 (65).
• Pray at least daily: 66 (49).
• Have absolutely certain belief in a personal God: 58 (45).

The survey involved interviews with more than 35,000 U.S. adults by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The latest findings, released Friday, are no surprise, only confirming what other studies have found for decades.

To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.

New Brazilian Law: Christians Face 5-year Prison Sentences

Speaking of the Biblical teaching on homosexuality "in public places or private places open to the public" will land you in jail.

-- From "Brazilian law would prohibit Christian teaching on homosexuality" posted at Catholic News Agency 7/15/08

The Brazilian Senate is considering a bill approved unanimously and without debate by the country’s House of Representatives that aims to promote homosexuality and prohibit Christian teaching on the issue, under the guise of combating discrimination.

According to the Association of the Defense of Life, the bill would make it [a] crime punishable by five years in prison to impede expressions of “homosexual affection” in public places or private places open to the public.

It would also punish those who deny employment [of] openly homosexual teachers in schools with up to three years imprisonment, making it impossible for Catholic or Christian schools to prevent homosexuals from joining their faculties.

The bill would also impose prison sentences on any kind of moral, ethical, philosophical or psychological expression that questions homosexual practices. In this way, “a priest, a pastor, a teacher or even an average citizen who says in a sermon, a classroom or public conversation that homosexual acts are sinful, disordered or an illness could be denounced and detained,” the association said.

Questions to Christians: So, who's going to step up to the plate and act boldly in the name of Christ to preserve religious liberty in this fallen world? Is not the Great Commission given to every Christian? The loss of religious liberty obviously translates to a loss of effectiveness in spreading the Gospel. Therefore, Christians must exercise their power as citizens (in the world's free countries) to maintain freedom of religion. To sit idly by and lament is not modeling Christ! Pray to God for His wisdom and guidance -- pray unceasingly, while going out into the world. God doesn't call His people to pray while cowering inside the walls of the local church, never to boldly go out and proclaim His Name.

Take the first step; we'll help you, just ask: feedback@culturecampaign.com

The inactive, rudderless Church

-- From "Wreaking havoc on America" commentary by Matt Friedeman, posted at OneNewsNow.com 6/24/2008

If the church of Jesus Christ, whose congregations number in the hundreds of millions in America, was doing what she were supposed to be doing ("... created in Christ Jesus to do good works"), a whole host of problems would be taken care of in short order.

. . . An inactive and ineffective church, ignoring the call to be holy, is as bad as a culture can hope for. To have a faith that is comfortable inside the confines of worship but remains unreleased into the world is, really, no faith at all.

Dennis Kinlaw recalls one of his tasks as a boy -- gutting a pig and hanging it in the smokehouse for his mother. One day, she asked her son to retrieve that ham, for special company was expected at their dinner table. He dutifully grabbed the meat and took it to his mother, who cut it with a butcher knife. Her mood suddenly soured, as the boy approached to investigate to find out that the meat was now oozing with maggots. She said somewhat forcefully to Kinlaw: "Not enough salt, Dennis, not enough salt."

When the church isn't the salt of the earth or the light of the world, disaster awaits. And the coming disaster, caused by Christian fecklessness, is the rise of paganism, cults, and Islam. None of these can compete with a vitalized, loving, compassionate church.

Luther had a phrase -- "Cor incurvatus ad se" ... a heart turned in on itself; a basic definition of sin. Ecclesiastically applied, there is nothing worse. The Church was not meant simply for itself; it was made for others.

And the world is waiting for us.

To read the entire commentary, CLICK HERE.

Regarding our Public Schools: "Silence Isn't Golden, It's Yellow"

"If you found a predator online trying to make a rendezvous with your 12 year old would you have to pray about it? If your neighbor was window peeping into your bedroom would you have to pray about it? If your baby-sitter were feeding your child poison, would you seek the Lord about what to do?"

From "I'll Have to Pray on It" by Coach Dave Daubenmire, posted 8/9/07 at newswithviews.com

...Well it just so happens that I had recently been at a gathering where the discussion of such “public” indoctrination had come under inspection. A group of parents had invited me to come and listened as they “privately” aired some concerns that they had about what was taking place in their “public” schools.

“What should we do, Coach?” they inquired of me. “We think it is horrible what they are exposing our kids to at such a young age. Somebody is going to have to do something about it?"

I had been here before. As a guy with a reputation of being a bit “edgy” as far as Christianity is concerned, I knew that the “somebody” they wanted to do something was me. They didn’t come right out and say it, but I knew they wanted to hire me as a mercenary, free of charge of course, because I had “experience” in this “type of thing.” In other words, they wanted me to go fight their fight for them, sort of a Christian hired-gun. Let me take the fire as they hid in the pews and watched.

“What do you think we should do? I queried them. “What is it you would like to see happen?”

They did not appreciate my questioning; they had invited me for answers. I didn’t let them hide in their silence.

“Let me ask you a few questions. Who pays for the schools, whose children are being “educated” there, and who is responsible for training the children?”

All eyes immediately dropped to the floor as mine panned the crowd. “Until you answer those questions there is no need to proceed. After a long pause I said “Let me help you out.”

I knew someone in the room was in trouble for inviting me to the meeting.

“Here it is in a nutshell. The schools are paid for with your tax dollars. The teachers, school board, and superintendent all work for you. You buy the books, the buses, pay the utilities, the salaries, and build the buildings. In many cases, you ‘tithe’ more to the schools than you do your church. Yet you have no say. Some “expert” in Washington knows what is best for your kid, even though they don’t know him, his parents, or his community.

The children belong to the Lord; He has merely put them in the care of earthly parents. They do not belong to the teachers, the school board, the superintendent, the National Education Association, or the Gay and Lesbian Task Force. George Bush doesn’t own them, Congress doesn’t own them, and the Supreme Court is not their family. If you have children it is because God has entrusted them to you.

The responsibility for training children falls to the parents. You will live with the consequences of what your children are taught. To turn the education of them over to people who will teach them things that are in opposition to everything that you as the parents believe is to bastardize them. They have your genes but someone else’s values. What more defines a child as yours? Is it the fact that he looks like you, or is it because he thinks like you? If you believe in your values, why wouldn’t you want your children to be taught them? Why would you pay the freight for your school to teach your children things you don’t believe?”

The room was uncomfortably silent.

“You want a plan? Well here you go. Call everyone that you know. Every pastor, every elder, every church member, every Sunday school teacher and ask them to join us at the school board meeting next Monday. If you do that, if you rally a crowd, I’ll go speak on your behalf. We will demand that the homosexual agenda be removed from our schools, that comprehensive sex-education be aborted, that abstinence education be the ONLY thing taught, and that every student be taught creationism as the origin of the species. We will make it clear that until our demands are met, not a one of us will ever vote for a school levy again, and we will encourage everyone we know to also oppose government indoctrination of our kids. They work for us. The school board will never see the light until they feel the heat. I say it is time we turned up the temperature.”

It was pretty clear to everyone. Now was the time to fish or cut bait.

In the back of the room a cowardly man stood up and cleared his throat. “This seems pretty radical stuff to me. There are a lot of good people working in the schools. They do the best they can to educate our children, with all of the restraints that are put on them” And then he hid behind his skirt. “I’ll have to pray about it. I’d have to be led by the Lord to do that.”

“Really?” I said as the steam rose off of my collar. “What is there to pray about? Let me sharpen the picture a bit for you, sir. If someone was breaking into your house to rape your daughter would you have to pray about your response? If you found a predator online trying to make a rendezvous with your 12 year old would you have to pray about it? If your neighbor was window peeping into your bedroom would you have to pray about it? If a drug dealer was standing on the corner giving marijuana to children would you have to pray about it? If your baby-sitter were feeding your child poison, would you seek the Lord about what to do?"

Do you pray before you go fishing? Do you pray before you play golf? Do you seek the Lord about going to a football game? Do you seek the Lord’s guidance before you put your kids on the yellow school bus from hell? As I once heard Zell Miller say, Silence isn’t golden, it’s yellow...

Read the whole commentary.