What Is so Offensive About Prayer?
The National Day of Prayer, by my estimation, should not be, or even sound offensive to anyone. In recent weeks much controversy has come about because of an invitation which was extended to Franklin Graham to participate in a prayer service at the Pentagon and then rescinded. Graham was viewed as too “non-inclusive” in his speech and actions. His strident belief that salvation is only attainable through an explicit belief in Jesus Christ has put him outside the realm of political correctness at the Pentagon and within the ranks of government in general. In particular the rub is over how Graham views Islam. In an interview shown on Fox News Graham stated,
I love Muslim people, and I want Muslims everywhere to know what I know, that God loves us, that He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to take our sins and He died for our sins and rose from the grave and that Christ can come into their heart and change them and they can have the hope of eternal life, salvation,
He went on to say,
I want them to know that they don’t have to die in a car bomb. They don’t have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God, but it’s through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.
Graham went on to explain that while he loves the people of Islam, he does not agree with the religion. He describes Islam’s treatment of women, for instance, as “horrid.”
There are several issues which make liberals feel trapped. On one hand they support this great “openness, all-inclusiveness, tolerance/acceptance,” but then they are forced to be open-minded to the very worst humanity has to offer! In this case it is oppression of women, murders, rampages, suicides, terrorism, hatred, etc. Islam is the very epitome of “intolerance.” Yet for some reason it has become fashionable, even the poster child among liberals for tolerating the intolerable. While their venom is spewed against the Republican Party, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the Bush Administration, Islamic extremism continues to threaten our way of life, our freedom, our economy, and even our very existence!
The Time Square bomber, the underwear bomber, the Ft. Hood shooter, etc. are all recent examples of the look of a person overcome with a spirit of utter hatred. All of these things have been present in Islam going back to it’s inception. A CBS correspondent recently tried to blame the Time Square bomber’s antics on the fact that he had lost his home in Connecticut through foreclosure in the bad economy, yet failed to mention the man had taken more than a dozen flights to Pakistan in recent months, which do not come cheap!
What kind of topsy turvy world do we live in when Franklin Graham is seen as an unwelcomed threat and is banned from leading prayer at the Pentagon and “mainstream” media correspondents are dismissing a terrorist’s evil plan as being the result of our terrible American system. “White guilt” is a term which was coined to try and understand where these liberal sympathizers are coming from. They honestly believe that whatever happens to us, albeit undesirable, is ultimately our own fault, and by large measure, we deserve it.
The very idea of “prayer” itself is offensive to some because it strikes at the heart of what people do not like most about God. They do not like his sovereignty. They are comfortable seeing God as something a kin to Physicians Mutual (we’re here when you need us), but don’t ask us to serve Him or get all “hyper-religious” or anything – that is not cool! God functions to them, that is to say if they believe in Him as all, as much more of an “observer.” It gives them comfort to know that somehow things are not merely left to fate or chance, however they live as though that is exactly what they believe.
Graham boldly, and forthrightly has proclaimed our nation’s need for genuine heart-felt prayer. He has pointed out, for instance, how much our military needs prayer. Simply consider the irony here; our nation is scared to death of having Franklin Graham lead a prayer at a ceremony, yet at the same time we, as a nation, are waging two wars, approval ratings for Congress are at historic lows, unemployment is at a 70-year high, and financial institutions have collapsed around us. It sounds to me like we need a “National Year of Prayer,” instead of just a day!
As a Christian I am not surprised. Even Jesus Christ himself was miserably misunderstood. Those with no spiritual understanding went so far as to accuse Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub! He pointed out to them that Satan cannot cast out Satan, but those who are spiritually depraved cannot even discern light from darkness. The Prophet Isaiah put it quite fittingly when he wrote in chapter 5 and verses 20-21, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” That sums all of this up pretty well!
In Christ,
Pastor Allen Raynor