Today’s Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch newspaper’s Hot Issue of the day is: “Should guest preachers at the (Ohio) Statehouse be allowed to pray in Jesus' name?” A minister from Lima, Ohio was invited by his representative to provide the opening prayer on the Wednesday session of the House of Representatives. This minister had the audacity and gall to name the three issues which the Ohio House was going to be dealing with that day and to request God's wisdom for the lawmakers. Apparently he got too specific, and worse, too explicit when he closed his prayer using the name of Jesus. His language went afoul of the political correctness crowd.
Here is my response to that question above:
Yes, absolutely, I agree with Rep. Josh Mandel, R-Lyndhurst, who is one of two Jewish members in the House, statement in today’s Columbus Dispatch front-page article that the prayer was not at all offensive to him and that he had no problem with the prayer. The Columbus Dispatch article even quoted Representative Mandel as saying, "Our country is based on freedom of religion, not a freedom from religion," he said. "Clergy of any religion should have freedom to say the opening prayer of their wish."
Unfortunately too many of our state and federal judges and state and federal representatives have bought the lie that there exists this separation of church and state. The Founders' desire was to ensure that there would always be freedom to express one’s religion in addition to the freedom of religion. The leftist elites and the courts have perniciously and continuously sought to prevent or to pervert these rights in favor of promoting and enshrining their own secular humanistic religion.
Contrast Representative Mandel’s reasoned remarks with that of another Representative’s arrogant and audacious remarks. Representative Chirs Redfern of Catawba Island, the Ohio Democratic chairman, who was one of two Democrats to walk off the floor during Wednesday's prayer. He said prayers over recent years have become "increasingly evangelical."
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Redfern is quoted in today’s Columbus Dispatch article as having said, "The opening prayer is a time to be mindful of the obligations that we've been granted through our voters and gives us a chance to reflect," he said. "It should not be used as an opportunity to proselytize. At times, all we're lacking is a river to take members down to dip them in." What meaningless gibberish this man speaks. Does he want the men of God to pray to the voters, for Heaven’s sake? How ridiculous it is to say that praying in the name of Jesus Christ. It is ludicrous even bombastic. Is the true man of God to be bound by the innocuous political correctness test before he speaks from his heart to his real true God?
Chairman Redfern, your words and actions Wednesday seem to indicate that you portray very bigoted, intolerant, biased and hateful behavior. You, my friend, are representative of all that is wrong with politics and the culture today. You and your ilk tolerate every form of perversion and every world view or philosophy save one. The one true faith in God and His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ is an abomination, an anathema to you and your comrades. Stop the bigotry. Stop the hatred. Stop the intolerance. Stop your mean-spirited bias.