I need to preface this with the following disclaimer: I know quite a few atheists. Most of them are beautiful, wonderful people; in fact, there are some of my atheist friends who regularly put Christians to shame in terms of the love, acceptance, and generosity they display. As is always the case, however, it is the vocal minority who earn the media attention which offers them the power to paint their group’s public image. This is highly unfortunate.
In fact, it happened again today. In a symbolic protest, the Lakeland chapter of the Humanists of Florida Association (HFA) held a figurative ceremony to ‘wash away’ the prayers of a local ministry who were openly praying for the safety of the families in Polk County. The Christian movement, named ‘Polk Under Prayer’ (PUP), began by arranging a gathering where various leaders in the local government, including the Lakeland mayor, Polk County sheriff, and Polk County School District Superintendent spoke about the challenges the county was facing in terms of safety, leadership, and education. It should be noted that this act of providing information was the extent of the involvement local leaders had with the movement.
PUP, however, took seriously the Christian admonition to pray for our leaders, and to pray for our community. Thus, after learning what the needs of the community were, they went to the primary road leading into Lakeland and held a prayer service, asking the Lord to watch over and protect the families in Polk County, and to shield us from evildoers by convicting their heart to repentance, empowering the law to catch and incarcerate them, or by simply preventing them from entering. At the heart of this was the cry for the safety of the families living in Lakeland, Florida. As a symbolic gesture, they then poured a thin line of anointing oil across the road, marking a line representing the border over which evil hearts would not enter. The oil ceremony was symbolic, but it marked the heart of the movement’s cry: protect our families, and let evil not enter this land.
At the heart of this was the cry for the safety of the families living in Lakeland, Florida.
Apparently, this is offensive. Thus it was that the HFA, led by Ellen Beth Wachs (who has a notable penchant for consistently earning the starring role in controversial news stories), later went to the same location and had their own ceremony. In tongue-in-cheek fashion, they beheld their own anti-religious ritual whereby they spoke against the prayers offered by PUP and symbolically washed away the line of oil with their own hoses and buckets of water.
This is where their behavior baffles me. According to their spokesperson, the purpose behind this counter-demonstration was to protest a perceived violation of the separation of church and state. However, there was no government involvement in the prayer ceremony for the families of Polk County. The extent of government involvement was the dissemination of information given by a trio of local government leaders with respect to their own areas of expertise. So, unless education is now banned, there was no government involvement whatsoever. Even so, Wachs went on to claim that “we understand that Christians have their way of life, and we’re not trying to take it away from them. But they need to realize that there are many other types of faith, and people of non-faith as well.”
So, in an attempt to promote “unity,” Wachs and her organization went out of their way to be incite offense and division? How does that work, exactly? Furthermore, from a secular perspective, prayer is considered little more than wishful thinking. So how, exactly, does ‘wishing’ for the safety of the families (of all faiths) within a particular community violate the ability for other types of faith (and non-faith) to feel welcome?
…because I can certainly see how anti-faith activism does it.
What do you think?
Related articles
- The God of 18000 Starving Children (ofdustandkings.com)
- Does Higher Education Innoculate Against Religion? (ofdustandkings.com)
- Four Days After Declaring War on Christianity, ‘Anonymous’ Finds Themselves on the Defensive (ofdustandkings.com)
jaredmease March 19, 2012 at 4:23 pm
You know it funny. Even the famous Mother Teresa was quoted saying that she would never attend an anti war rally but she would be happy to attend a pro-peace rally. You see, she was aware of a higher law and way of thinking. It’s the law of attraction, recently promoted by the spiritual guru Eckhart Tolle. Basically it says that your thought are responsible for your reality you experiences. You see your thoughts are waves that emit from you and attract people and events in you life of what you are thinking about. For example, he instructs that if you are focusing on wanting something, you will only experience the wanting of this desire. So what he suggests you do instead is to think about the things and events as if they already exist in you life now; see yourself in your thoughts and you minds imagination as if you already own that car, watch yourself driving the car in your daily life experiences. Post photos of the car so you can remind yourself to repeat this behavior. Eventually, the law of attraction will produce your desire your thinking about. When you focus your thoughts this way, you start to notice the negative things you are saying in your egoic mind and you can change this behavior and focus on positive thoughts do you will begin to attract positive, like-minded people, events and things into your life to support these thoughts. I have been applying these principles in my life and I will admit, it was very hard to do. I was amazed at the nimerous thoughts that were running through my brain. Over the years, I got better at it and my life slowly started to improve. The relationships I have now are very healthy and I am loved unconditionally. I am now living a better quality of life then I have ever lived before!!!
T. E. Hanna March 19, 2012 at 4:38 pm
In other words, train yourself towards optimism and goal-oriented living? I agree to an extent, but I rather like Richard Foster’s take on it, that life goals are discovered rather than made.
jaredmease March 19, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Sure, discover your potential!!!
byrongeorge March 19, 2012 at 4:25 pm
I, too, thank you for posting this. I always read in amazement when the atheist crowd, the aclu and other anti-Christian group use the “separation of Church and State issue.” That phrase CANNOT be found in the Constitution, Bill of Rights or any other document. They NEVER, Ever finish the sentence with it’s proper wording, “the free exercise, thereof.”
Furthermore, I have a difficult time understanding why people who do not believe in God are so fearful of HIM. Just saying….
Paige March 19, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Atheists are not afraid of gods, for goodness sake, we are wary of the followers of god(s). The actions of this ‘atheist’ group are absurd and give the rest of people with no religious beliefs a bad face. If religious believers want to say chants or pour oils or light incense as they have done since the stone ages, so be it. Just so long as we don’t go back to the Crusaids, you can have your beliefs and I can enjoy my lack of them.
T. E. Hanna March 19, 2012 at 10:06 pm
I agree that this group is not representative of all atheists. Most are wonderful people, and we can enjoy eachother’s company and discuss matters of faith without hostility. The HFA seem more interested in controversy than truth.
I don’t want to see us return to the crusades either, but neither do I want to see us go the route of Stalin and Pol Pot. We need to be able to be open in conversation about issues of faith, and still love each other when we disagree.
literary lew March 19, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Thanks for posting this. And thanks for your kind, Christian words for atheists. There is no need to hate them. I too am perplexed at the animus some of them demonstrate but we don’t need to reciprocate.
cheisserer March 19, 2012 at 5:03 pm
The Humanists were being aggressive while promoting their cause. I don’t find any openness to stamping on someone’s holy ground. The message I get from the Humanists is “Religion is wrong, no matter what good comes of it.” Love isn’t the higher law, for them. Reforming the world through aggression is. Good post. ~x
Holly Michael March 19, 2012 at 5:17 pm
crazy world…oh well. Thanks for the post.
Shirley Anne March 19, 2012 at 4:21 pm
I agree with Lew. Perhaps prayers should be said in chambers. I have found that many atheists find themselves being challenged and that’s what makes them become so anti-Christian. One of the things I like to ask in prayer is that non-believers be challenged by The Holy Spirit that they may repent and turn to Jesus.
Good post by the way!
Shirley Anne x
Bird March 19, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Of course, anyone who’s ever washed out a pot that you cooked something in oil in knows water alone isn’t going to wash away oil…
I’m never going to understand why people work so hard against Christians….
To me, hate isn’t the opposite of love — indifference is. I think these people do it for the attention they get. It is all very pathetic to me.
Good post!
T. E. Hanna March 19, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I don’t really think there was any “power” in teh oil, whether it was there or not. The whole issue surrounds the symbolism of “washing away” the prayers of those who are hoping for a safer, better community.
Bird March 19, 2012 at 6:29 pm
I did get that. I was just trying to be funny. Sorry. The power, to me, is the prayer, not the oil. But if I were going to make some kind of real statement (if I were the opposing side), I guess I would have used Dawn or something…
T. E. Hanna March 19, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Lol. Cuts the grease!
Bird March 19, 2012 at 7:45 pm
lol!
Peter March 19, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Something to consider: when an Atheist tells a Christian to stop forcing his world view upon him, is the Atheist forcing his world view upon the Christian?
Phil Martin March 19, 2012 at 10:25 pm
I’ve been facing opposition similar to this, as I continue to share the Word of God as a columnist for my student newspaper at Bowling Green State University.
One of my fellow columnists is a hard-core skeptic and atheist. He’s been really aggressive and quick to denounce the Truth of God with his intellect. But, I still pray for the guy because even though we’re not on the same team, Jesus said I should still love him. Plus, he’s been dealing with emotional issues, I’ve heard (which I battled with in the past five years).
As for the PUP, I really do think it’s a great cause with what they’re doing down there. But, I don’t think I agree with making their prayers a great spectacle. When Jesus performed miracles, witnesses made it a spectacle, but Jesus slipped away and many times he told his disciples not to tell people about God’s work through him.
I probably sound ignorant about this since I’m not down there and not familiar with everything, but maybe it wouldn’t seem so offensive if the PUP didn’t make its actions seem like a spectacle.
TJ de Ocampo March 19, 2012 at 11:17 pm
This reminds me of this verse right here: “And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.” (Matthew 11:12 NLT)
Nice post. I just recently followed your blog. Hoping to hear more from you.
jrsorrow March 20, 2012 at 12:31 am
They have their own religion but it’s anti-God.
Reality is a fool says in his/her heart there is no God;
undoubtedly a fool will do foolish things.
Why we as Christians continue to argue with fools is
beyond me. Somethings about casting your pearls before
swine:)
T. E. Hanna March 20, 2012 at 5:43 am
I think it has something to do with “love your neighbor” and the Great Commission.
While the acts of this group certainly ARE foolish and offensive, that is not representative of all atheists any more than Westboro is representative of all Christians. We still need to keep perspective and love people as Christ loves us.
jrsorrow March 21, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Nice thoughts but the Word is clear; A fool says in his/her heart there is no God.” all my arguments won’t change their minds it’s foolishness to them. The best way to reach them I agree is with love, but that does not mean I have to embrace their lifestyle or their way of thought? True God is love but how does He reveal His love? One way we know is Jesus the Perfect Revelation of God’s Divine love, but for those who stray away are who flat refuse Christ; His love is revealed in the fact He disciplines us.
One way of loving people is to simply tell them the truth about their situation if we don’t who will? (But in doing this I will not argue with them because that is what most of them want) If I know a person is a fool in their disbelief do I show them love by not telling them the truth? It’s then up to the Holy Spirit to convict them not by me arguing with them as many do. Interesting to note Paul states in Acts 17:30 “God has declared (one translation says commanded) that all men everywhere should repent.”
Now I am Thirty March 20, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Wow, great words…
As a newcome to Wordpress, I just found your blog.. looking forward to reading more!
Beccy
befuddled2 March 21, 2012 at 8:54 pm
As an atheist and a Humanist, I just want to say that I do not support the actions of the Lakeland Chapter of the Florida Humanists as reported in your blog. Especially if there was no government involvement in this ceremony beyond what you have stated.
While we may not agree with your theology and beliefs in God you are still dealing with very human desires and human responses to problems that face us, both the mundane and the overwhelming ones. We should respect the emotions and needs behind such actions and not mock them or tear them down unnecessarily.
I would like to briefly (although brevity is not one of my strengths) address some of the comments above from Christians.
First and foremost would be why atheists can be so hateful towards Christians. I would suggest that those Christians who are wondering this take a look at their fellow believers who treat and act hatefully towards atheists. I am not saying that when an atheist acts hateful towards Christians it is in reaction to Christians doing it first. Instead I am saying that the motives of the atheists who calls Christians names and acts unjustly towards them is the same as the Christian who does such to atheists. Without going into details on this, let me just say – its called being human.
Second, and last thing, is that so many talk as if atheists and Christians(or theists in general) do not have any common ground. However, since both groups are human there is indeed a considerable overlap on what each group believes and on how each group reacts to most moral issues.
I love my family and would do all that I can to protect and nurture them. I do not steal and believe it to be wrong. I do not kill and believe murder wrong. I do not cheat and believe cheating to be wrong. I value human life and human potential. I value the world around me.
I imagine that most of you feel the same. When talking about our differences it is important to remember our commanalities. Differences generate heat – and are not only unavoidable but quite often necessary. But if we wish to avoid unnecessary and destructive violence – both of the verbal and actions – then we should also remember our commonalities.
T. E. Hanna March 21, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Thank you for this. I said this at the beginning of this article, but I will say it again here: I have atheist friends are some of the most beautiful people I know. The behavior of the HFA are not representative of the group as a whole.