Over the years I’ve spoken to several people who feel their right to pray, or worship, is being limited. Some have even gone as far as to say it is under attack.
Usually when talking with them, I learn a lot about what they mean. Here is an example if a real conversation:
Person A) Do you feel you have the right to pray and worship anywhere and anytime?
Person B) Of course, absolutely!
Person A) Do you have the right to come into my home at 3 AM?
Person B) No!
Person A) Do you have the right to come into a mosque or synagogue during their service and start worshiping there?
Person B) No…
Person A) Has anyone ever told you that you can’t worship in your own home or in your church?
Person B) Well… no
Person A) Then your issue isn’t whether or not your allowed to pay, it is with where and how public you can be. If you can worship on government land and other people’s property; can you worship in a private business owned by someone else. Isn’t it?
Soon the United States Supreme Court will hear a case about a coach what wants to pray on the 50 yard line before games. Reuters wrote this:
The school district notified Kennedy to stop the prayers while on duty, offering other private locations in the school as alternatives. He initially appeared to comply, it said, but later refused and made media appearances publicizing the dispute, attracting national attention. After repeated defiance, Kennedy was placed on paid leave from his seasonal contract and did not re-apply as a coach the subsequent season.
Liberal justices questioned why Kennedy drew attention to his prayer and later sought publicity over the controversy.
“He’s the one who chose to publicize his prayer by doing it on the 50-yard line. He didn’t do it on the side. He didn’t just bow his head. He got on a knee at the very center of the field,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.
One has to wonder, if this is Christian worship and prayer, what Jesus said about prayer?
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Christian Bible: Matthew 5:5-6
Possibly another point of view is when Jesus said:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Is this public spectacle demanding to be seen the ‘good works’ Jesus referred to? Are those who call themselves christian really fighting for the right to worship as they choose? Or are they simply making a show, and if so to what end, politics, power, something else?