Re: Why prohibit prayer?

Dear Editor: It’s never enough! Pray in your home, pray in your car, pray in all those buildings dedicated to the free exercise of your religion, and pray in your head whenever and wherever, and as continuously as you like. There is nobody to stop you! The impression I get is not so much a concern for the free exercise of one’s religion, as a tobacco company like desire to promote one’s product before the young. You have your own kids to indoctrinate, and you are welcome to them. Please respect me and mine. Still, I could respect this desire to flaunt religion if it was at least fair. My suspicion is that O.H. is only concerned about a mainstream branch of Christianity. He would likely have a coronary if a follower of Minister Farakhan gave the prayer. Let’s allow equal time to all the Christian, Jewish and Moslem sects, include your Budhist, native american, druid, wiccan, atheist, agnostic, mormon and all the others I am not even familiar with, and dispense with the football game altogether. Myriad devout beliefs bear their dismissal from the public forum with dignity. Belief is after all a private matter. When it becomes a concern of the state, killing follows. The headlines are still rife with it! In this hemisphere, we have had enough with the attacks upon the religions of the South American and North American natives as well as upon the Mormons, not to mention assaults that were not state sponsored. There are no “fair” half measures when it comes to religion. You must either keep it private, discreet, and considerate of others, as we attempt to do in the U.S., or let loose the floodgates of chaos, destruction and death that the rest of the world is still familiar with. History may never again tell of Popes going into battle, but christians will kill in Christ’s name, as will others for their “cause.” I say that if you feel slighted at a football game, turn the other cheek. F. Haas

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