God Is In Our Public Schools--Even If Prayer Isn't.

And, I can hear the right wing nut-jobs right now: "You heathen! You need to repent! You're going to burn eternally if you don't!"

No, I'm not--but I am going to finish your sentence for you: ".. You're going to burn eternally if you don't--UNLESS YOU TURN AND BELIEVE THE NARROW BELIEF THAT I AND MY THRONG BELIEVE! AND WE'RE RIGHT, DAMMIT!"

Well, maybe not the dammit. But I think you get the picture.

This was all prompted by a bumper sticker I saw today, which read:
"Dear God: Why do we allow such violence in our schools?"
"Dear Concerned Student: I'm not allowed in schools."

As I finished reading this and was backing my vehicle out of the parking lot, all I could think is: this person's God is too small to be put in a box like that. And, as a fellow Christian, it infuriated me.

I've written about this before, but in case you're new to my blogosphere, I'll review. I am a Christian. I was baptized in the Lutheran Church. I was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. I currently attend a Methodist Church with my wife and daughter. So, I'm not anti-Christian at all. I believe in Jesus Christ as my personal savior, and I also believe that Christ will draw each individual near in His own way at His right time, and not mine.

Which brings me to my point in all of this: the veiled message in that bumper sticker, to me, was this: since this person believed God is not in our schools, violence happens. And the indirect veil of that bumper sticker, it seems, is that God is not allowed in school because prayer and Christianity as religion is not allowed in school. And, to both of those veils, I shine a light that says one word: poppycock.

I'll back it up with three points. First, since when did we, the CREATION, have the power to keep Him, THE CREATOR, out of our schools? He's bigger than that, and He's not going to be bound by any of man's laws or edicts. That's putting God in a box, and He's showed us time and time again what the penalty for that is (now's the time for one to REALLY know one's history).

Secondly, last I checked, there's no Muslim prayer, Hindu prayer, or Buddist prayer--or any other faith's prayers allowed in school either--at least in this country. And, reiterating a point I made in a previous entry, for those Christians that embrace "The Golden Rule"--you know--"Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You", consider this: if this was a predominantly Islamic country, would you want the schools forcing you to pray an Islamic prayer? Certainly not. You'd take your case to the school board or even hire and attorney and take the district to court. Well, again, embracing "The Golden Rule"--isn't forcing Americans of other faiths to pray a Christian prayer in school a violation of said Golden Rule? Of course it is, and that's what makes mandated and/or forced prayer of any faith in public schools wrong.

And, third, and this is the hardest one to fathom because it's still somewhat taboo in our society, but it's nonetheless true: violence happens everywhere--even in places where there's an abundance of prayer and practice of any faith. How about churches where children have been molested? Where there's been documented adultery? Where there's been arson and crosses burned? What about individual homes with the same aforementioned scenarios? Why don't we talk about those kind of situations as much as we talk about God in schools? Why don't I see bumper stickers like that as I'm backing out of the parking lot? It seems to me they all fall under the same umbrella: we as man are not greater than God, and His in finiteness is so far beyond our understanding right now that sometimes all we have to go on is our faith, and because He is infinite and we are not, it's not our place to tell God what to do. Therefore, we don't have the power nor the place to keep God out of schools--no matter what kind of violence makes the news.

And one more thing: I prayed every day I was in school. I did it on my own--silently. It didn't take somebody reading one over the loud speaker. I think we as Christians would do better at proclaiming the love of Christ if we'd wear our faith on our hearts and not on our sleeves.

Or our bumper stickers.