Alabama Case and Injunctions

[richard duncan]

I have been out of town for a few days presenting a paper on Loving v.
Virginia and Same-Sex Marriage, so I have missed much of this debate
about "instrumental prayer."

I must say I have very mixed feelings about what is going on. I tend
to agree with Emily that prayer used to harass someone who has wronged
you is inappropriate. I seem to recall Someone once telling us to love
our enemies (and thereby shower hot coals upon them), so I agree that
targeted prayer is inappropriate.

On the other hand, I also think that when someone tries to censor you
that makes it all the more important to get the message out loudly and
frequently. The price of attempts at censorship should always be more
of the speech that was targeted for suppression.

So maybe what the students should do is pray unceasingly at
school--not only when the young censor walks in the room, but at every
good opportunity. They should say grace at lunch; pray in the morning,
between classes, in the hallways, at recess, etc. Sometimes silently,
sometimes out load and collectively. They should pray for their
teachers; they should pray for Judge Dement; they should pray for
their enemies; and they should pray for this Nation that we
once thought was the land of the free and the home of the brave. Most
of all, they should pray *to* Someone, not at someone.

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             Rick Duncan (rduncan at unlinfo.unl.edu)

"O Truth, Truth, how the deepest marrow of my mind ached for you!"
                 --Augustine