Spartanburg, SC Heads Down The Prayer Path

Does anyone remember when John F. Kennedy had to prove to the nation that his religion (Catholicism) would not interfere with his governance? Neither do I. Neither does the rest of the country. Now, everyone is concerned with their elected leaders wearing their religion on their foreheads like some sort of moronic billboard. It looks like Spartanburg County, SC is about to have their own religious battle for, you guessed it, prayer before county commission meetings.

There is a quote from Chairman Jeff Horton that is very telling about what happens when you mix governance and religion. (emphasis added)

“He prays for all council members and everyone in Spartanburg, and always includes our fire personnel and police officers and our military personnel. He doesn’t try to convert anybody to Christianity in our service, I mean our, um, meeting."

Even that guy is having trouble distinguishing the meeting from church. But, I have to say I love the reason that this even became an issue.

Prayer in the public square has been under increased scrutiny since March, when Councilman O’Neal Mintz — filling in for Chaplain Jerry Clevenger — opened a council meeting with a prayer condemning abortion and same-sex marriage. Clevenger, a Sheriff’s Office employee, typically gives the opening prayer and uses less controversial language. But he does close his prayers “in Jesus’s name.”

Damn, that guy is bold. What do you expect when you let hillbillies run rampant at public functions where they can gain points with the flock of Jesus? It gets better. Horton says:

“But as a Christian, I cannot ask anyone not to say Jesus’ name.”

Yes you can! What you do is stop praying at government functions! This guys is flat out telling everyone that being a Christian supersedes his oath of office. So one night, when this guy hears the voice of God tell him to enact Christian Sharia Law, then he will because Jesus told him to.

The best way to avoid this situation is to stop praying before meetings. Stop praying at government functions. Keep your prayer to yourself. By the way, didn't that Jesus guy that these people seem to not be able to stop talking about have something interesting to say about prayer?

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." - Matthew 6:6

I guess they overlooked that one.