Hey all you creative DU'ers...Help me respond to this freeper email....

[Danieljay]

There is a ton of responses...I'm going to compile your ideas and respond! Bring em on my friends....Lets stick with the facts... Here it is...

Paul Harvey 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 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 ear
>plugs. 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.
>
>The silent majority has been silent too
>long. It's time we
>let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard
>that the vast majority don't care what they want. It
>is time 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, despite all her faults. She is still
>the greatest nation of all.
>
>God bless our service men who are fighting to protect
>our right to pray and worship God.
>
>
>May 2006 be the year the silent majority is heard
>and we put God back as the foundation of our
>families and institutions.
>
>Keep looking up.

[Taverner]

1. Digging up that old "silent majority" card

That was what Nixon used when he was really grasping at straws...

[FreedomAngel82]

2. About Darwin they are trying to get rid of him

by including "intelligent design" and focusing more on that and not on Darwin. I just would claim "bs" and tell them to get over it.

[northzax]

3. well, two things, I guess

First off, China is a secular state, kinda the point of that whole Godless Communist thing. And no one prays to Buddha.

second off:

>Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.

yeah, well Life, Liberty and your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone doesn't say a 30-second prayer before a football game.

given that, why do you get to pick, and not me?

[northzax]

7. one more thing

since we're talking silent majority, does that mean Catholic (since they remain the largest denomination? and when Muslims become the majority religion, you'll be fine with prayers in arabic? really?

and when the valedictorian decides to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you're cool with that?

[jjmalonejr]

4. Well, for one thing, Paul Harvey didn't write this

Check out snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/prayer.asp

If your ideas are so compelling, shouldn't they survive on their own merit without having to attribute them falsely to someone else that people know and/or respect?

[northzax]

8. I love this line:

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 down sides of omnipresence. Do you think God Almighty himself would have watched Spearman beat Panhandle 50-0 Friday night if he didn't have to?

[zbdent]

13. Hmm, with that logic, God is a Steelers fan

or, at least, when the Steelers beat the Godless Browns (;)) on CHRISTMAS F*CKING EVE . . .

[ClintonTyree]

5. It's not worth responding to......

the old "persecuted christian" bullshit again.

Tell them to pray in private as their lord suggested, their public entreaties impress no one.

[sui generis]

10. right on brother

I always thought that "personal savior" meant that faith was a private thing, or at least done in private and in places of worship.

Why some loon puts on religous TV in the locker room at the *mostly gay* gym every morning at 5:30 eludes me. I really don't think discussions of Leviticus are appropriate in a place where men run around displaying their noodly appendages after showering. Thank the Holy Colander I'm tall enough to change the channel without using a remote.

:P

[Balbus]

6. I can't believe he's still alive.

He sounded like crap 10 years ago on the radio - is he still doing that "rest of the story" schtick on stations?

[Kali]

9. The only "right" these "christians" are getting restricted

is their "right" to inflict THEIR religion on everybody else.

[Bozita]

11. The "War on Christmas" as seen by Opus the penguin

[rawtribe]

12. Religion, Education & Your Rights

Ninety percent of America's youngsters attend public schools. These students come from homes that espouse a variety of religious and philosophical beliefs. Given the incredible diversity of American society, it's important that our public schools respect the beliefs of everyone and protect parental rights. The schools can best do this by not sponsoring religious worship. This principle ensures that America's public schools are welcoming to all children and leaves decisions about religion where they belong with the family.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been vigilant in forbidding public schools and other agencies of the government to interfere with Americans' constitutional right to follow their own consciences when it comes to religion. In 1962, the justices ruled that official prayer had no place in public education.

This decision is widely misunderstood today. The court did not rule that students are forbidden to pray on their own; the justices merely said that government officials had no business composing a prayer for students to recite. The Engel v. Vitale case came about because parents in New York challenged a prayer written by a New York education board. These Christian, Jewish and Unitarian parents did not want their children subjected to state-sponsored devotions. The high court agreed that the scheme amounted to government promotion of religion.

More at:

http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=resources_brochure_schoolprayer

[zbdent]

14. Take all the "cc"s from the e-mail just prior to your freepturd friend's

missive and sign them up to all kinds of strange e-mail lists . . .

[sui generis]

15. oh my

www.felchersanonymous.org
www.xxx_twinkporn.com
www.goldenshowers.com
www.coprophilia.org

(i have no idea if those are real, just being juvenile as usual)

[Danieljay]

16. deleted