I am so ANGRY right now! I teach at a public university, and tonight was going to attend a major presentation involving a significant number of students. I stopped to pick up a program for the event, and when I opened it, the first item I saw was "Prayer/Invocation." I debated for about thirty seconds and left the room. When I got back to my office, I sent the event organizers an email, parts of which I will include here. This is only the second time that I have made an issue of this sort of thing, but it looks like I may have to do so more often. Just looking for reactions to what I wrote.
Here's the text of the email:
"Dear Professors X and Y:
I came down to the ABCD event tonight, but did not stay. The reason that I did not stay is that the program indicated that the event would open with a prayer.
XXXX is a public university, with no religious affiliation whatsoever. I think it is not appropriate for an event at a public university to open with a prayer, no matter which deity/deities are being addressed. Anyone who is not a believer, myself included, has to sit uncomfortably by and listen to an appeal that has no relevance for them. If you are looking for a way to settle the crowd and gain their attention, a moment of silence might be a good idea, or the reading of a relevant poem. But I don't think a prayer is appropriate.
Me"
13
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15 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yep, talking to the invisible spook- is about as revelent as praying to Bugs Bunny.
... and in this community there is a big banner over the main street- about a "prayer breakfast", whatever that is. Has to be some joke! Is Jeezuz-dude going to supply the meal- he waved his magic wand over the stale bagel and the can of sardines and "fed the multitude"- surly he could do it again for the idoctrinated.
Diogenes
Level 8
May 13, 2018
0
Oh, and for everyone who was concerned:thank you for your concern. I DO have tenure and am in fact a year or two away from retirement. So now is the time for action!
citronella
Level 7
Apr 20, 2018
0
Take back that e-mail. Ask for an apology. As a sign that you wish to be cooperate in a good student life, offer to organize the next prayer then call on the services of the Satanic Temple. They will probably do it for free and it will be the most inspiring and secular invocation you can ever imagine. They have a lot of practice in town hall meeting across the country.
(Please don't lose your job over this...)
Lukian
Level 8
Apr 19, 2018
0
I am an ordained Dudeist priest and would gladly say a few words if you requested.
Keep the emails, I hope it does not get nasty for you.
DavidLaDeau
Level 8
Apr 19, 2018
0
Don't get so easily offended by some harmless prayer before an event. The world has more worse and important things for your attention and energy to give. People are deluded that they want to pray for their solace, but you will be deluded to want they will give up their comfort.
AnandaKhan
Level 6
Apr 19, 2018
1
pretty powerful insight, Ananda.
Tolerance.
But this country was founded on the separation of church and state. This blurring of the lines is a sneaky means of asserting affiliations and that's often an indication of where the money flows and may indicate which belief systems they tolerate, too...what is being taught
It's not a "harmless prayer.". My guess is it was Christian in nature, and that could be offensive to any Muslims, Hindus, etc., as well as to any non-believers. I am not asking anyone to give up their faith or their prayers; I just want them to think about when and where those prayers should be shared.
Why should anyone have to comply with stupidity?
@Diogenes Compliance and tolerance are different.
@citronella All gods are based on some human's imagination- and all religions are nothing more than a pack of lies. One of the 'newer' ones, with a history of less than two centuries, the Mormons, was founded by the huckster, good ol' Joe Smith. He left the east for Utah before he was to be jailed.
@Diogenes I'm an atheist. But religions are more than pack of lies. Otherwise, millions of people wouldn't follow it. It has something to offer and it's serving a lot of people like my grandma a good way. So, whether there are certain delusions or not, that often because of the cognitive evolutionary bias and social influence, but deep in the heart most human being are good and gullible, and those gullibility, foolishness, innocence, stupidity are what make us human. Logical, rational people are very boring and often like machines, can't think of anything which doesn't fit in their logic, even though skepticism and openness should be the core in their heart. Anyway.. there's no point of hating religion, it won't take you anywhere, it will just seclude you from billions of good hearted people.
@AnandaKhan ... and "good hearted people" don't have to have the false illusion of going to La-la-land to be good. Don't do evil in this world; no secret! Lies may be more interesting than truth, because reality actually is boring (you are right). For an example, my IQ is probably a bit over 100- absolutely no match for Trump's 156- but like these religious oracles, Trump's lies become boring- time after time, ad infanitum. How SHOCKING it would be if Trump told the boring truth; how shocking it would be if these religious text, whether Hindi, Christian, or anything else, said, "This earth came about, approx. four billion years ago; and we have no knowledge about 'how' or 'why'." And I don't have the time or proclivity to chastise religion either.
You did the right thing. If it's a public university (also includes public schools in general), not a private christian one, then the school cannot hold prayers or else it alienates the rights of nonreligious students. These schools are to be secular, showing no favorability whatsoever.
AustinSkepticus
Level 7
Apr 19, 2018
0
I remember a mother that during P/T Night began to give away little prayers cards...she was removed from the premises by the security guards.
DUCHESSA
Level 8
Apr 19, 2018
3
Ooh I love that! Do you think it's on YouTube somewhere?
@citronella No, dear...but I enjoued seeing her being escorted out of the school.
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