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Site SearchFayetteville, N.C. — Fayetteville and Cumberland County have taken an official stance on prayers by their employees at official functions: Not in Jesus' name.
In May, the attorneys for both Fayetteville and Cumberland County sent out memos to city and county leaders regarding prayers at public meetings. The rules applied to city council meetings, police graduations and memorials.
Fayetteville City Attorney Karen M. McDonald and Cumberland County Attorney Grainger Barrett both asked local-government employees to refrain from "frequent invocation of the name of Jesus."
"Who am I praying to, the wind?" asked Fayetteville Councilman D.J. Haire. "I think it's downright sickening what they want us to do."
Fayetteville residents have also expressed disapproval of the ban.
"There's something wrong with whoever came up with that idea," resident Henry McNeill said.
Attorneys asked for the ban after recent lawsuits, including one in Forsyth County in which three citizens were offended at hearing Jesus' name in prayers at county meetings. Both memos cited a 2004 case in which the 4th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that routine invocation of Jesus in the opening prayers of a South Carolina town's council meetings unconstitutionally endorsed one religion.
"Frequent invoking of the name of Jesus (or any other Deity) in opening prayer could lead to a lawsuit under the federal civil rights statute," McDonald wrote, in the memo.
"They're saying you can be free to be who you are as long as it fits into this little box, and I don't think it's right," Fayetteville resident Amber Evans said.
Fayetteville employees told WRAL they are not aware of any complaints about prayer in the city. Mayor Tony Chavonne was out of town and unavailable for comment.
The city has issued several generic prayers approved for public meetings. One reads, "We pray to the One up above."
Haire said he will refuse to read such generically worded prayers.
"I am a child of God first," he said. "I like being an elected official, but I'm not going to manipulate the Word of God to satisfy them."
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However, most christians wrap their key events with wholly pagan concepts. That's been the success to christianity - spread the word (usually violently) and allow the 'converted' to keep their own pagan ways as long as they are dressed up in a conveniently abridged set of books belonging to christianity. For most christians, it is nothing more than a moniker. The religion provides a framework for the society to function and, historically in Europe, to appease the pope.
Re the source of the quote, it seems you only looked at the first page. That's a bit like me looking at one page of the bible (which, incidentally, I studied as a youth as well as attending church every sunday, singing in the choir etc, prayed/sung hymns daily). I've walked in your religion's shoes and found it meaningless.
Where are you quotes etc from? Or do I just have to exercise 'faith'....
October 7, 2007 9:55 p.m.
"For the record, the underlying principles of paganism resonate very strongly with me and define my own personal spirituality. However, I am not religious."
You practice a form of spiritualism that is rooted in paganism, whose essential belief is that the essence of a higher power infuses everything around us Some pagan sects also elevate specific named gods that perform specific functions.
Yet you claim not to be religious.
Is it any more possible to get completely contridictory within the context of two short sentances as you have?
Unless you are an absolutist who adheres to secular humanism, and strong athiesm, you are indeed religious. Even then, iI would argue that athiesm is merely another form of religion whose belief system simply denies God via faith in that axiom.
October 7, 2007 9:52 p.m.
Ferdinand and Isabella chose Catholicism to unite Spain and in 1478 asked permission of the pope to begin the Spanish Inquisition to purify the people of Spain. They began by driving out Jews, Protestants and other non-believers.
It ended in 1834. How many innocent people died during those 356 years in the name of christianity? Sorry - but that's the way it is. Powerful people use your religion to commit atrocities. Ferdinand and Isabella also sponsored Columbus' voyage to the new world - resulting in some of the greatest acts of genocide ever committed. Celebrating him is no different than celebrating the acts of Hitler.
October 7, 2007 9:44 p.m.
I am totally in agreement with that. Totally. As a matter of fact, I will no longer vote for anyone for any office who 1) refuses to answer the question "will you vote in favor of discontinuing any and all prayer associated with any government function" and 2) whose answer to the question is "no, I will not vote in favor of that".
October 7, 2007 9:42 p.m.
I think you've been reading The Da Vinci Code too much.
And do you even understand the whole concept of denominalationism? All Christian denominations are Christian; their individual beliefs outside of what makes them fundamentally Christian are what varies. But that does not alter the underlying Christian-ness of their nature.
October 7, 2007 9:42 p.m.