God Cannot Be Forced

I Disagree with Pastor Smith. I don't think the military academy is forcing religion on the cadets, but giving them the opportunity to participate in something that is life-cha

"Praying before meals seems to be fairly innocuous"

Only to those who pray before meals..

Really, the 'message' these Christians are trying to send by making the *Academies* a conservative-Christians-only-club is this:

"The superiors at the U.S. Naval Academy say that religion is necessary for strong moral development. They want their men and women to have strong and moral character."

In other words, they are indoctrinating people with the notion that only Christians have morals. Thus, that all others are immoral and without character.

Pastor Smith, In my opinion, you're right on target. Since time began, "religion" has been used as a mechanism of control and while controlling one's behavior is paramont for the military, we must never make the mistake of thinking we can control the spirit. We can have people become quiet about their spirituality but how one believes will never be diminished.
I personally could care less if anyone prays before they eat or lie down or anytime because it doesn't stop me from doing so.

Thought provoking piece. I would also add something forced, usually has a negative outcome. With what they will see during their tour of duty, praying before their meals will be the least of their worries. May all of them be blessed and thanked for their service.

Ms Smith they volunteered for it. In fact they jumped though several hoops to get into the service academies. Were they drafted you'd have a point.

People get so caught up on practices and we can be so dogmatic in our own beliefs. I personally thank God for everything that includes my food. No one should be forced to serve a Loving God that would die that we may live again. God is not a forceful God he gives us options and we have a choice to choose what is right and pleasing to God. I am amased that anyone would feel that had to mandate someone to give God thanks. I believe in God's word that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess,that Jesus Christ is Lord.

All we have to do is refer back to the 1962 decision made by the US Supreme Court to eliminate voluntary school prayer to learn what has happened in our country since religious practices and/or Church was identifiably separated from State (educational system, government, etc.).

I am a practicing Christian and I pray before my meals, however, I don't believe everyone who worships differently is wrong. It is a very challenging role for any diverse concern (ACLU, Military, Schools, etc.) to make a decision to "force" God on people who worship (or choose to abstain) differently. God made US different. God provided free will. God loves all and forgives those for they do not know. Hmmmm.

My parents/family chose to send me to Catholic Schools from Kindergarten to 12th grade. However, I was raised Baptist. I realize this is a stretch of an example, but as a very young person I had to make sense of the mandatory church and religious values, etc. I was taught as part of my education (the sacraments, etc.) which was very different from the values I was being taught on Sunday when I attended church with my family. While being exposed to a different theology benefited me in the long run because I have an understanding and am one that expresses a broad range of varying theological tolerance. I personally believe there is much to be gained by understanding all of OUR brother’s religious practices.

This all being said, I also applaud the ACLU's difficult decision. But I also believe they can offer a time of silence and allow everyone to choose to take that time to do what speaks to their hearts. We need to seek a place of peace for everyone (inside Judaism, Hindi, Buddhism, Christianity, etc.). It is not always about black and white (decisions that is), why not seek compromise?

This was a thought-provoking editorial. The writer had me spinning in my chair. OK, where do I begin? One phrase in Hebrew 11:6 says, he that cometh to God must believe that He is. What sense does it make to force someone to pray who doesn't believe? In a believer's zeal for God, he/she tends to push unbelievers away from God. Agents of God have done more to hinder the cause of God than unbelievers. When you read about the life of Christ you will see that He never force Himself on anyone. He simply went about teaching, healing and feeding the people. When Christ fed the multitude, it begs the question; was all whom He fed believers? Did Christ say; I’ll give you a piece of fish and a slice of bread, but only if you do this or that. No, Christ simply gave thanks and fed all in attendance. That was a wonderful example of love. God is love. Love can never be forced.

Ms. Smith,

Students at the Naval Academy aren't "cadets," we are "midshipmen." Please be knowledgable of your topic before writing an article that denouces Academy policy.

Thought provoking essay!

God INVITES us to be in relationship with Him, there is no force. If the goal is to develop moral character then the most important quality of God-- love-- should be used. Never force.

However, we should remember, as you mention the culture of the military is not one of choice(s).

Right on! Forced faith is not faith--nor forced anything. Perhaps one of the reasons religion has gotten such bad press is the Constantinian-like forced baptisms in its wake of history. Forced prayer won't make anybody moral, ethical, or a team player. You make a valid point that the military requires marching to the beat of "their" drummer--so everything comes with that territory and context--different cadences need not apply. It seems to me given military history, that anyone signing-up would understand that the uniform necessitates uniformity across the board. However, the Enlightenment opened the door to question and challenge all authority, even if we sign-up to experience the authority. The challenging and questioning seem to have become empirical means of mean-spirited egalitarianism that would eliminate prayer and perhaps the salute next. I don't believe the ACLU has a case here. It continues to march to the beat of its own cadence--a cadence that seems to change with the winds of a fickle and whispering herd. I do believe it will sue and sue and sue though. The paradox seems that to sue is also to force. I will pray and pray that it (ACLU) leaves this one alone.
Prayer is a matter of faith, not force. Prayer changes things.

Sincerely,
Ozzie Smith

I agree with Pastor Smith's editorial. I choose to pray before I eat to honor the God that I love. If others choose not to pray, than that is their choice. Praying or not praying at mealtime is not an indicator of morality or spirituality. How you treat others before and after those meals is the only indicator of true faith and spirituality, and ultimately morality.

It is said Jews are seek signs. It is the LORD who does these signs. I find it amazing that some equate themselves as The LORD, that they are some sort of god, and create their own signs for others to believe.

And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:

Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

I think that religon is needed in the military, I also agree that it should not be forced down anyones throat. The problem today is that there are so many beliefs that people are not respecting everyones right to worship the way they choose.

What a thoughtful piece! I agree with Dr. Smith. God is love and love is born of choice. If love and devotion are forced, then it is something different.

The believer seeks a close, meaningful relationship with God. The desire to pray comes from within.

I also hope that it doesn't come to this practice of the Naval Academy.

Good Essay, Susan.

I thought you made several good points and I didn't feel that you were talking down to us.

Thanks

SUSAN K SMITH

You wrote, "That's not a good thing. God cannot be forced on people, nor should God be forced on people."

How true. Not only should God not be forced on people, but God does not force Himself on people and since we have free will, God can't.

It is really sad that some of the people that know God's Name, that that is the only thing that they know about Him.

I am a Catholic and I cherish my Catholic Faith but one of the things that I say to "practicing" Catholics is that maybe they should stop practicing and become "catholic" in the true sense of the word.

Of course, only God can look into someone's heart, so when I say something like that it is to maybe get some of them to think.

God is a searcher of hearts and minds, not of religious affiliations or lack thereof so going thru the outer motions such as mandatory prayer may actually become an impediament.

I have been in the service as a draftee and some of the comments written about basically being blackballed for not conforming to what everyone else is doing and in the way that they are doing it is probably still true.

Some have mentioned about a moment of silence before a meal where each individual can use as they see fit, sure sounds like a good idea to me.

Another thing that I have said numerous times is that: It is important what you do and why you do it and what you know, and it seems that this statement applies here, mindless prayer is not prayer anywhy.

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

I served in the Navy but was enlisted. We did boot camp (not the academy). There were no mandatory prayers before mandatory meals. We were given five minutes to wolf down all our food.

Later, a chaplain spoke to our group, not about God at all but about why it was important to have a republican president and the need to invest in a roth IRA of all things.

This, I think, is relevant to this discussion. Relgion wasn't presented, in any religious form, during or after meals to enlisted servicemen... this was in the winter of 2000.

Religion, however, as a form of individual moral capacity building, was/is ritual for officers (military elite, as measured by fiscal, educational and social status).

In short, it's not equal across the board. Religion down the throats of the non-religious elite. A ridiculously non-specific prayer almost always offered up to an unspecified higher power for the specifically religious. No access to religion at all for the religious non-elite.

WHO WINS HERE?

We should adopt a moment of silence before meals and meetings for those who'd like to observe it. The conformity the military demands would be maintained (everyone gets quite for thirty seconds), folk could pray or not in any way they desired, there's no talking so religious values aren't imposed on others (unless someone decides they want to talk) etc.

I hope this is not the only "religious" practice that is offered besides sunday service to these cadets. Maybe if there was bible study or open forums for people to talk about and debate about what their spiritual beliefs or disbeliefs are, there might not be that feeling of being forced to particpate or conform to a fairly simple practice of blessing your food. Building a personal relationship with God or even being encouraged to explore one's spirituality in whatever manner, christian or not, should be the primary focus, especially for men and women who have to deal with such death and destruction and who need to find encouragement, hope and faith in something greater then themselves in these uncertain and confusing times.

Folks,
Randall Bailey reveals a disappointing lack of proportionality here. The idea that every little sect should have its own chaplain just does NOT make sense and is thoroughly impractical:

"In this society "Religion" is generally equated with "Protestantism"....This violates the rights of African traditionalists, Hindus, Buddhists, Moslems, Jews, Shintus, Agnostics, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Adventists, Universalists, Atheists, and the like....
On the other hand, given the multiple religious traditions noted above, it is shocking that each is not represented on the chaplaincy staff at the Academies. This definitely needs to be addressed and corrected."

With the exception of Catholics who represent about 1/4 of Americans and a similar or higher proportion of soldiers (and usually have a chaplain complement), none of the groups you listed comprises even 5% of Americans. Per App. 1 of the recently released Pew Report on Religion, the following groups comprise the following percentages of the American population. In all, they total 9.1% of the population:
Hindus 0.4%
Buddhists 0.7%
Moslems 0.6%
Jews 1.7%
Shintus Agnostics 2.4%
Orthodox Christians 0.6%
Adventists 0.5% (considered to be Evangelical Protestant)
Universalists 0.3%
Atheists 1.6%

Susan writes:

"God cannot be forced on people, nor should God be forced on people.

Why don't people get that?"

Oh, I don't know why, Susan. Perhaps it's because god has been forced on people throughout history. Perhaps it's because the fundamentalists are forcing god into the science classroom and the military with equal vigor.

Why don't "people" get that? If you're a fundie, what you "get" is that you're doing god's work by forcing the issue.

It all comes from people being pre-conditioned to believe certain things without thinking them through. For instance, I recently read a column where the author spoke about this very subject of prayer in the military, and of the ACLU's sending a letter to the Naval Academy opposing some prayers. The author wrote, "When I first saw the question for this week, I got angry at the ACLU. I could not understand why it would be opposed to prayers being said at mandatory meals."

This person has been conditioned to believe that everything the ACLU does is anti-religious, anti-American and anti-her, and to get angry whenever the acronym ACLU appears in print. However, unlike many, this author looked beyond the headlines, and wrote, "But then I read the reasons why the ACLU submitted a letter to the U.S. Naval Academy..." and concluded that the ACLU was correct in this instance.

So, while one would hope that every American would assume that the ACLU has the civil rights of EVERY American at heart, the reality is that many Americans don't, including authors who write for certain religious blogs. But hope springs eternal, and this case shows that people can self-educate themselves if they only read a bit further than the headline...which is intended to get them to read a bit further than the headline.

BTW - Mr Mark is a proud, card-carrying member of the ACLU.

And I should add, I don't find prayer before meals inherently-threatening: I do it myself. I can even pretty-adriotly make thanking the *food* not something offensive to Christians. ;)

But some prayers are designed to alienate the non-Christians in the company, even things they'll send your Catholic nephew home to dutifully-parrot over Thanksgiving dinner.

The military environment is similar, except it's in a context where some aggressive Christians conflate 'Not Praying with Us' with 'This is A Threat To Your Lives As Soldiers Cause We Don't Wanna Get Along.'

I would agree that the ACLU position should be supported. In this society "Religion" is generally equated with "Protestantism". Thus, when "Prayer" is raised, it is assumed that it should be a Prostestant Prayer to Jesus. This violates the rights of African traditionalists, Hindus, Buddhists, Moslems, Jews, Shintus, Agnostics, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Adventists, Universalists, Atheists, and the like. A group activity which privileges one religious tradition is blatantly unconstitutional. At the same time, to have a different prayer representing a different religious tradition at each meal would be problematic, since it would require people who do not follow that religious tradition to be participants in a ritual which may violate their own religious traditions. The assumption that bowing one's head and folding one's hands is appropriate posture for prayer for all people represents basic ignorance of other religious traditions. It would appear that all those who want to pray before their meal should be allowed to do such in the quiet of their own seats in the posture which befits their religous tradition, as they choose.

One the other hand, given the multiple religious traditions noted above, it is shocking that each is not represented on the chaplaincy staff at the Academies. This definitely needs to be addressed and corrected.

I think the real fault here is the aggressive Christians using the military as a recruiting and indoctrination ground: *turning* something like that coercive and intimidating, when it *didn't have to be.* It *is,* but it didn't have to be that way.

This is all about how the 'majority religion' decided to see the rest of us. Including, in the words of another columnist, taking not being Christian as 'If you want to turn your back on God, that should be your choice.' Theoretically-libertarian sentiment, but it does still show the bias and context in which some Christians saying a prayer before a meal becomes about *something else.*