This has been circling the internet for years as something Paul Harvey wrote. I went out to snopes and found out that it actually wasn’t written by Paul Harvey, but by a sports writer from Wichita Falls, TX named Nick Gholson back in 1999. So it really is an essay that was written and published, it’s just been attributed to the wrong person.
Anyway, I know how this plays to the Christian crowd … it plays well. In fact, I will come right out and say that I agree with it. But what I don’t know is, is it true? Is prayer before a game really that big of a deal to atheists? Is it worth going to court over?
Here’s the essay Mr. Gholson actually wrote. I’ve italicized the parts that were cut out for the “Paul Harvey” version. NOTE - snopes also omitted part of the essay right at the top, so I don’t have that.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 56 Comments »[Part of the essay omitted by Snopes]
Take this prayer deal. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Some atheists go to a high school football game, hears a kid say a short prayer before the game and gets offended. So he hires a laywer and goes to court and asks somebody to pay him a whole bunch of money for all the damage done to him.
You would have thought the kid kicked him in the crotch.
Damaged for life by a 30-second prayer? Am I missing something here?
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 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, a country 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.
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 humor us for 30 seconds. If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of earplugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!
Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. 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.I don’t think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world’s foundations. Nor do I believe that not praying will result in more serious injuries on the field or more fatal car crashes after the game.
In fact, I’m not so sure God would even be at all these games if he didn’t have to be. That’s just one of the downsides of omnipresence. Do you think God Almighty himself would have watched Spearman beat Panhandle 50-0 Friday night if he didn’t have to?
If God really liked sports, the Russians would have never won a single gold medal, New York would never play in a world series and Deion’s toe would be healed by now.
The Blakely, GA Early County News just ran this letter on their editorial page and online:
Showing Compassion to All
Dear editor,
A few days ago I found a kitten on the sidewalk at the end of Cotton Street. It was dehydrated and very weak. It had laid down on the sidewalk to die. It has a 50 percent chance of survival. I am doing everything I can to save it. To the person who committed this horrendous inhumane act, I have a question for you. Are you an atheist? Because people who believe in God do not commit inhumane acts against animals. Instead they show love, compassion and commitment from their hearts toward their pets. You will pay for the evil sins you have committed against this innocent animal. I would give this some serious thought. Judgement day is coming.
Marion English
So Marion English, while walking down the street, finds an abandoned kitten, and without any evidence, imagines an atheist has left it there, because nobody who believes in God could do such a thing.
And he feels so strongly about this, that he writes a letter to the newspaper. And the newspaper thinks this is something that should be printed, and not the ravings of a bigoted crackpot.
I wonder, would the Early County News run a letter that read this:
“To the person who committed this horrendous inhumane act, I have a question for you. Are you a Jew? Because people who believe in Christ do not commit inhumane acts against animals.”
Here we are, in the year 2007, open, undisguised bigotry toward atheists. This has got to change, people. Churches teach people this stuff. Churches teach that atheists have no basis for their morality. Churches feed people this hatred. It’s got to stop, people.
My next question is directed to Mr. English.
Mr. English,
I’m happy you found a lost kitten and are caring for it. I’ve cared for many a lost animal in my life, and I know how upsetting it can be, especially when the animal has a tenuous hold on life. I would note that sometimes kittens can become lost through no fault of their owner, if indeed that kitten had an owner. I do hope the kitten holds on, and thank you for your charity in caring for it.
I have a question for you, Mr. English: Where did you pick up your attitude toward atheists? Was it your church? Does your church teach you to hate, distrust and impugn the morality of atheists? If not, where did you learn this? Who taught you the lie that only a godless atheist would kill kittens out of spite or a lack of empathy? Is this how you treat people with different beliefs from you? Is this the standard of Christian behavior, to accuse innocents of crimes merely because they have different beliefs? To smear an entire cross-section of the population because of a crime you merely imagine must have been committed by one of our number? Is this showing Compassion to All?
There’s got to be some good in you, Mr. English, to have such compassion for animals. Please try to show some compassion for people whose lives have taken different paths from yours. If your church taught you your attitude towards atheists, please take this opportunity to welcome an atheist to your church, where you can ask him or her face to face what we believe, and what our morals are. You will find that most of us love animals just as you do.
-Siamang
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts | 36 Comments »