Here we go again, a moment of silence versus a prayer.  Another possible example where the majority is ruled by the minority. 

Just my opinion, and I am just one, but I am ready for change in the steady attack on the majority. Seems just like yesterday when Rev. John Stair Sr. asked everyone to bow their head in prayer before a game on Friday night. Can’t do that anymore.  Are the schools better for it? 

Rev. Stair was the minister of Silverdale Baptist Church.  On that football field were Baptists, Methodists, Church of Christ’s, Catholics and I am sure some who did not have a faith, but all were respectful of the prayer.  To this day I am proud to have bowed my head and prayed along with Rev. Stair before the kickoff.  I still see and talk to some of the guys who bowed with me in 1965 and not one has ever expressed a problem with it, not one.  

Change seems a constant in life but some things are worth all the effort not to change.  As just one citizen, I say to Chairman Henry and the commissioners continue to pray, pray for America, pray for Tennessee, pray for Hamilton County and pray for a tolerant population that can listen to someone else’s prayer without being offended.

Ooltewah 

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Well, here we go again. The tail tries to wag the dog and make a name for itself. I am always amazed when these few people or sometimes even one person have the gall to try and impose their will upon the majority of the people.  What do I mean? Just suppose that a referendum was held in Hamilton County on the appropriateness of opening a legislative meeting with prayer. I believe I am well safe in saying you guys are outnumbered and would lose hands down. 

Does the desire of the majority not mean anything to you. I kind of thought that was what democracy meant. And how in the world could there be harm in asking God for wisdom and leadership in guiding the affairs of our county. But therein lies the sticking point. I believe it is not so much prayer to God that offends you but prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. To that I can only say that no matter what your reasoning purpose or logic may be in this, it is the spirit of anti-Christ.  

So you view Chattanoogans as looking like a backward, small-minded bunch of bigots. I suppose the Congress of the United States is also. Why not drive on up to Washington and tell em how you feel. 

In closing, I find it insulting that "you" would "offer" a compromise. The decision is not yours to make. The majority of Hamilton County voters chose these leaders. Oh, I forgot, you are taking the pusillanimous approach to threaten us with the ACLU. 

If I sound harsh, it is because I am fed up with the tail trying to wag the dog.  

Tommie D. Wright
Soddy Daisy

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Read Matthew 6:5-6 and explain to me what part of that is difficult to understand.  I'm not anti-Jesus Christ, just as I'm not anti-Yahweh, anti-Jehovah, anti-Allah, or anti-any deity, for that matter.   

Geesh, if the majority ruled, the south would still have slavery. 

Herb Montgomery

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Herb,

You are taking Mathew 6:5-6 out of context.  Jesus wasn’t saying we should never pray in public. What he was doing was chastising the religious hypocrites of the day.  They would stand on the street corners or in the synagogues and pray long flowery prayers with big words to draw attention to themselves.

Their prayers were not for the purpose of asking for God’s guidance or asking for forgiveness of their sins. Their prayers were self-aggrandizing and totally unacceptable to God.

I doubt a 30 second prayer before a City Council meeting asking for God to bestow his wisdom and bless the city of Chattanooga would fall into the same category.

Curtis Smith

Ringgold, Ga.

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Perhaps those who continue their ongoing war against religion and public prayer in this country should first take the time to educate themselves as to the history of this nation and what our Founding Farthers actually intended:  To prohibit the establishment of a state-mandated CHURCH...and nothing more.  To repeatedly insist that this is a "secular nation" or to claim that prayer in government facilities is "unconstitutional" indicates a distortion of US history.

On September 7, 1774, The First Continental Congress was opened with a prayer by The Reverend Jacob Duché, pastor of the Christ Church. Some of the minister's words bear repeating today:  "Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation." 

The inclusion of a prayer before the opening of each session of both the United States House and the Senate traces its origins to the First  Continental Congress and to the official recommendation of Benjamin Franklin on June 28, 1787:  "“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel . . . I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.”

Soon after, the Office of the Chaplains of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate were established via Article 8, Section II, of the US Constitution: "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers." The fact that the chaplains were deliberately "chosen" for the positions in both the US House and US Senate indicates that our Founding Fathers saw a place for religion and prayer within our own federal government and this country from it's very creation. 

Since 1789, over 220 years, the United States of America has had Chaplains serving in both the US House and the US Senate.  During that time, every day's session of US government business has started with prayer. Those prayers are conducted in federal buildings and by the constitutionally-appointed officers of this country.

The Office of the US Chaplain of the House of Representatives posts the daily prayer on the website for all citizens to read. For June 6, 2012, the prayer presented by the Reverend Patrick J. Conroy reads: 

"God of grace and goodness, thank You for giving us another day.
Your divine wisdom and power are abundantly sufficient for our many needs. Endow the Members of this Assembly with a loyalty that never wavers and a courage that never falters as they seek to fulfill the high and holy mission which You have entrusted to them
May it be their purpose, and all of ours, to see to the hopes of so many Americans that we authenticate the grandeur and glory of the ideals and principles of our democracy with the work we do.
Grant that the men and women of the People's House find the courage and wisdom to work together to forge solutions to the many needs of our nation, and ease the anxieties of so many.
May all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory."

As US Senate Chaplain Reverend Barry C. Black also notes on the Senate website:  "Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State...During the past two hundred and seven (sic) years, all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate's faith in God as Sovereign Lord of our Nation."

Should the Freedom From Religion group persist in promoting their revisionist history across this country, I suggest that all public and private events now begin with the announcement of a "history lesson" that consists of the public recitation of the daily prayers posted online and delivered in federal buildings by constitutionally-appointed US House and Senate chaplains, or by quoting the prayer delivered at the First Continental Congress, or by delivering the historically-significant words of Benjamin Franklin. 

Mya Lane

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