Pass this on to everyone you know! The email you sent me is a hoax. Andy Rooney is an agnostic / atheist!
http://agnosticthinking.blogspot.com/2010/07/andy-rooney-prayer-e-mail-is-hoax.html
(original email is below my response)
And now my response: (Please forward this to everyone you know as well!)
As an atheist, I’m not offended by people praying. I’m offended by loud, unwavering, misinformed ignorance. Christians are hardly the “silent” majority. The most extreme christians are often the ones who get the most airtime. There is a christian undercurrent in every aspect of our North American lives. There are entire media networks dedicated to preaching and spreading the “good news”. And there are a lot more christian churches than any other religion represented in North America.
But North America was founded by immigrants, and continues to receive an influx of various cultures and religions from around the world. It’s extraordinarily ignorant for North American christians to presume that all these people, with drastically different backgrounds and cultures, are prepared to “accept” the majority around them and let their distinctiveness melt away into the pot of christian mediocrity. Why should the non-christians sit idle to humour the christians while they make entire stadiums and sports networks pray to a god that not everyone holds dear.
Prayer should be a silent affirmation of faith and should be kept between the believer and their deity of choice. To shout, caterwaul and carry on in public, about the injustice they’ve suffered because a few people around them don’t share their beliefs, is objectionable.
Furthermore, a christian’s right to practice their religion is not being taken away. They have the freedom to shout fire and brimstone sermons and prayers at the top of their lungs at ANY PUBLIC VENUE they want. But they will look crazy, and make those around them uncomfortable, so it’s not about what is illegal, but what is in good taste. What the faithful do in their own places of worship and in the sanctity of their homes is their business (provided nobody gets hurt). But once the faithful are in public, it’s not in the majority’s best interest to segregate the growing portions of non-christian population by proclaiming the christian spiritual opinion to be superior to everyone else’s; if they do, it’s silly to think the loudest christians won’t be challenged, and obtuse to call foul when they are.
I understand that a lot of christians feel threatened by people of differing faith, differing sexual orientation, and differing opinions, but that’s where the word tolerance comes in. If we all spent a little more time considering the other person’s point of view, instead of whining about the hassle of having to turn the other cheek, we might actually learn something, feel a little more at peace with our selves and our surroundings, and be able to function as a better and more compassionate people.
Not everything is US vs. THEM. The world is changing, and diplomacy is becoming more and more important. Christians need to learn to think and adapt, instead of lashing-out for every knee-jerk reaction to change. Ignoring the our present situation and ‘wishing’ for the sterile 1950’s to make a comeback isn’t going to solve anything. Learning the wisdom and value of the phrase “There is a time and a place for everything…” is a good start.
Can’t we all just get along?
Dave
On 02-14-2011, at 8:47 PM, Pat Lewis wrote:
Subject: YESsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
HEAR HEAR HEAR!!!
Pray if you want to!CBS and Katie Couric et al must be in a panic and rushing to reassure the White House that this is not network policy.
Folks, this is the year that we RE-TAKE AMERICA & CANADA
********* Get Ready *********<B6FAF995F80547D5A6C7E0DFD1C5C378.jpg>
Keep this going around the globe.
Read it and forward every time you receive it…
We can’t give up on this issue.Andy Rooney and Prayer
<CB5CB086BCC449729E74553AC81BC1D2.jpg>Andy Rooney says:
I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I’m not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December.
I don’t agree with Darwin , but I didn’t go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered in any way because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.
So what’s the big deal?
It’s not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They’re just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
But it’s a Christian prayer, some will argue.
Yes, and this is the United States of America , andCanada , countries founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1.
So what would you expect —
somebody chanting Hare Krishna?If I went to a football game in Jerusalem ,
I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad,
I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.If I went to a ping pong match in China ,
I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.
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And I wouldn’t be offended. It wouldn’t bother me one bit.When in Rome ……
But what about the atheists? Is another argument.
What about them?
Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We’re not going to pass the collection plate. Just humour us for 30 seconds. If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer! Or, just exercise your right to leave this country!
Unfortunately, one or two will call their lawyer.
One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don’t think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world’s foundations.Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights.
Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep.
Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.
Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. It’s time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn’t care what they want!
It is time that the majority rules!
It’s time we tell them, “You don’t have to pray; you don’t have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don’t have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him.
That is your right, and we will honor your right;
but by golly,
you are no longer going to take our rights away.
We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!”God bless us one and all…Especially those who denounce Him, God bless America and Canada , despite all our faults, we are still the greatest nations of all.
God bless our service men who
are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.
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Let’s make 2011 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. And our military forces come home from all the wars.Keep looking up.
<9AF664472C504C34AC5B94DB4E8B2D12.jpg>If you agree with this, please pass it on.
If not delete it.BUT REMEMBER SHOULD YOU DELETE IT,
that’s one reason why this world is in the mess we’re in now.
WE JUST SIT BACK & LET IT HAPPEN!!