Public prayer gripe

[Atheos]

I was at a conference recently that included an obligatory banquet. Being in the heart of the "bible belt" the banquet was proceeded by someone being invited to step to the podium and "say grace".

The conference itself was completely secular in nature. There were at least 200 people in the room, coming from disparate backgrounds. Some of them were from other countries and I'd speculate that at least a few of them practiced some other religion besides christianity. And of course there were probably at least a few deists, agnostics and (I know for sure) at least one atheist.

The prayer that was uttered was chock full of the most gratuitous references to Jesus and how "we'd all give him the praise", etc. The lady next to me (who I know is a deist) was as offended by the prayer as I was.

I suppose that rather than come to this sympathetic group and whine I ought to show some balls and communicate directly with the gentleman who organized the banquet. Sometimes I just think people ought to be able to see for themselves how inappropriate this sort of behavior is in the context, but evidently this just isn't the case.

It did serve as a reminder to me of how we've got a long way to go before people really start respecting the religious views of others. Some sort of reminder is in order here. I guess it's up to me in this case, huh?

-Atheos

[Barefoot Bree]

Quick answer: yup. It's up to you, hon.

I'm curious: does this group have some kind of newsletter or other public platform that you could use to air your question? If you can make it kind of an open issue to the membership, you might get better response. There are lots of samples of "letters to the editor" in this forum you can use as a springboard.

[CX]

I was at a conference recently that included an obligatory banquet. Being in the heart of the "bible belt" the banquet was proceeded by someone being invited to step to the podium and "say grace".

I find the best thing to do in those situations is to grab your just, feign a heart attack, and then jump up and shout "Just kidding!" Usually throws the timing of the pray-er way off. :D

[WNCAtheists]

At functions where public prayers are involved, I take the opportunity to look around for the other folks who aren't praying, and wave at them :wave: . It's like, when they say "now let's bow our heads.." they're really saying: "Duck down Christians, so the sane folk can find each other".

I was watching "Monster Garage" last night, and Jesse James was attending a rally for a race up Pike's Peak in the mountain climber they'd made for the show. All of the racers at the rally gathered around for a prayer, heads bowed...The camera pans around, and there's the star of the show looking all around like "what the f*ck" :huh: . He may not be 'sane' per se, but I think that he might be an atheist.

Darrell

[Atheos]

Quick answer: yup. It's up to you, hon. *sigh* No rest for the wicked, huh? :devil3:


I'm curious: does this group have some kind of newsletter or other public platform that you could use to air your question? If you can make it kind of an open issue to the membership, you might get better response. There are lots of samples of "letters to the editor" in this forum you can use as a springboard.
Unfortunately, no. Rarely is there even so much as a group email to address everyone involved. The "group" is actually running under the auspices of the Tennessee Dept. of Safety. Clearly what I described earlier violates the spirit of the principle of "separation of church and state", so I'm sure I've got just cause to complain.

I have begun composing emails twice about this and each time I get about halfway through and feel like the words are a bit more confrontational than I intend for them to be. I've also discussed the issue with a small number of other people who were at the meeting. One of them has suggested that she will also write the state appointed program director about this issue as well.

Thanks for the suggestions. I may try posting my email here before sending it to the director just to get some additional feedback. Nothing like getting a few other eyes to look something like this over. Might help me avoid saying something offensive without realizing it. Two wrongs won't make a right.

-Atheos