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January 5, 2005

Evil or ignorant - you decide

by Feòrag

United States: Tom Delay chose his reading from Christian scripture carefully for Tuesday's Congessional Prayer Service (how is that allowed under the Constitution anyhow?), and had an important message for those affected by the Asian tsumami - you are dead because you are not Christians:

"Matthew 7:21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
 28. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29. For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.

The emphasis was apparently DeLay's.

Choice Words - American Coprophagia, 4th January 2005 (via Cheryl Morgan)

Posted in Love Thy Neighbour at 13:21. Last modified on July 14 2009 at 16:45.
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3 comments

user-pic 1: Posted by jr
January 8, 2005 4:26 AM | Reply

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

user-pic 2: Posted by Feòrag
January 8, 2005 11:03 AM | Reply

Yep, that's the bit of the U.S. Constitution I'm thinking of, and I'm thinking about what 'establishment' means in terms of the status of the Church of England down south. It means, among other privileges, that the C. of E. gets to do all the official religious ceremonies, and this prayer meeting looks like an official, government-approved, religious ceremoney to me. Which is why I'm wondering how the hell they think it doesn't represent an "establishment of religion"

user-pic 3: Posted by jR
January 9, 2005 3:13 AM | Reply

The point to note is that Congress can not make a law "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" either, so payer is allowed in Congress but not required.

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