The other day I tuned into the Trinity Broadcasting Network's "Praise the Lord" show. TBN is a "Christian" cable station in my Comcast package. PTL is probably the most comical or disturbing show it runs of all the comical and disturbing shows in its portfolio.
This particular show had someone "interviewing" somebody who is supposedly in some "ministry" or another. Anyway, it wasn't more than two minutes before the guest went into the whole "the country's going down the tubes because its legislating immorality, kicking God out of the schools, not allowing school prayer" etc.
Now I've heard this kind of sentiment about 8 million times on this channel and other "Christian" media outlets.
Most of the audience greeted the guest's comments enthusiastically (and unquestionably since there isn't any forum for the audience to ask questions or challenge anything).
But the commentary, while being a staple of conservative "Christian" propaganda, as a valid, accurate piece of social analysis, is just bupkis.
But most offensive is the bit about school prayer. Members of the "Christian" elite that have been exploiting this social development for the last four decades are simply misrepresenting the truth of what was decided in the relevant court decisions affecting religion in schools.
It is not the fact that prayer is not allowed in school. It is the fact that organized prayer cannot be orchestrated in the school and that students cannot be coerced into praying, which happens to be an act of worship.
Yes, organized school prayer used to occur in America and probably still does in a lot of places. But the end of that policy, at least officially, has been a good thing, not something that should be regretted. And it isn't something that "Christian" elites should be misrepresenting to their flock. It's ignorant, manipulative, self-serving and irresponsible for them to continue to do so.
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