Fides quaerens intellectum

Irish Polytheism from my point of view.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Are Americans hypocrites?

The Wild Hunt is reporting that many news reporters, article writers and bloggers are commenting on the prayer held at the memorial service held in Tucson, Arizona for those killed and injured in the recent shooting.  The opening invocation was given by Dr. Carlos Gonzales, a Pascua Yaqui Indian and a local professor.  Some of the critics are claiming that the prayer was too "pantheistic" for the main-stream audience and others go so far as to claim that it directly violates the separation of church and state.

Really?

It seems more to me that these people are angry that their God (who says to have no other gods before him) wasn't central to the prayer and instead drew from Native American tradition.  To be fair, a couple of the critics were upset more that Dr. Gonzales spoke of Mexico and gave a history of who he is, which as he clearly explained was the tradition of giving the type of blessing that he did.

I have watched a clip of the prayer and I will happily tell you what I feel.  Maybe none of the victims were of Mexican and Native American affiliation.  Maybe none of them were anything other than Christian.  So why is this reaction only evident when it is a service that does not recognize a Christian god?  Why do Christians not rise up and cite a lack of separation of church and state when schools are told to preach only Christian ethics and promote Christian ideals?  Something is wrong with that picture.  It seems to me you can't cower behind a regulation or ideal unless you're willing to let it be true for every citizen, no matter how it impacts you.

Not all Americans are hypocrites, but most hypocrites seem to be American.

That is how I feel.  Don't even get me started on my thoughts on the First Amendment.

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