The election hangover has about worn off, (Come on, Senator Franken!) and I was wondering what I had to post about, when there it was in my inbox, a forwarded piece by Paul Harvey about lawyers and atheists taking away our right to pray.

Hallelujah!

First of all, about three-quarters of religious Americans are Christians, but that leaves out some ten million Americans that practice other religions. When we celebrate the pilgrims, who came to America to avoid state interference in their church, I think that we should remember to be careful not to let anybody’s church interfere with our state.

And as for how folks worship in other places, some of those places are intolerant of other faiths. In some parts of Israel, people will throw rocks at you if you drive your car on Saturday. And proselytizing in Islamic countries can get you killed. I think that we’re bigger than that. We ought to be, it’s written into the Bill of Rights, in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The founding fathers were products of The Enlightenment, an age of science and reason. Some of the founders were Deists, believing that God created the world, but seeing no evidence that He took an active part in man’s affairs. Jefferson wrote his own Bible, telling the story of Jesus the philosopher, without the miracles. Washington went to church, but sat in the back row so that he could slip out early; not fully participating, but without offending. Franklin gave money to all the local churches, but never belonged to one. I see such Deism in JFK’s line that “God’s work must truly be our own.”

But I think that the best response to Harvey’s bit is Matthew 6: 5-6.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”