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Prayer and Religion in Public Life
Dos Equis:
--- Quote from: Agnostic007 on October 02, 2025, 09:54:40 PM ---Hawkings was pretty smart. Didn't believe in the bible. In theory, IQ should be a factor in whether someone believes in a god. It is a factor, but there have been studies where people will set aside their intelligence to support a particular belief. For some it is the bible. For example, and I hesitate making this political. But for all intents and purposes we should ALL agree, DJT is about as far from Jesus as you can get, comparing what he says and does to Jesus' teachings. But many a minister has determined that they can forget all the negatives, because they found something they can cling to to justify it. Doesn't speak well for Evangelistic's, but that's just my opinion.
Summation, I think people who believe in God SUSPEND their critical thinking in that realm. But I assume in other aspects their critical thinking is fine
--- End quote ---
To be frank, this is really nonsensical. To conclude the that millions of incredibly bright people throughout history who believe in God are not critical thinkers makes you sound like a nut. The irony. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. Just being honest.
And if you actually knew and understood the Bible, you would see how just how wrong you are about Trump. He is exactly the kind of person God would use for good. Go look at the story of David and what that man did. Absolutely horrendous behavior. Dwarfs anything "bad" Trump ever did in his life. Yet God not only used him but the lineage of Jesus on earth goes through David.
Then there are the people who Jesus embraced and hung out with. Prostitutes. Tyrannical tax collectors. People who did very bad things. So if you're trying to use the Bible to show Trump is far away from Jesus, you're just wrong.
Skeletor:
Assemblies of God churches shielded accused predators — and allowed them to keep abusing children
A children’s pastor was caught filming girls in a church bathroom in Arkansas. Elders suspended him for a few weeks.
In Illinois, a preacher was accused of sexually abusing children. Church leaders sent him to therapy rather than call police.
In California, a worship minister went to prison for molesting boys. His congregation threw him a party when he returned.
All of these men remained in ministry in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination. All went on to abuse more children.
Since the 1970s, Assemblies of God churches have repeatedly reinstated ministers and volunteer leaders accused of sexual misconduct, returning them to pulpits and youth groups, an NBC News investigation found. While some of the other largest Christian denominations now require safeguards such as background checks and mandatory reporting, national Assemblies of God leaders have resisted, arguing such rules would increase legal risk, undermine its commitment to local church autonomy and defy a core biblical command: to forgive.
The result is a patchwork system that has protected accused predators and left generations of children in danger.
NBC News identified nearly 200 Assemblies of God pastors, church employees and volunteer leaders accused of sexual abuse over the past half century, based on a nationwide search of lawsuits, criminal records and news archives. Together, they allegedly abused more than 475 people — the overwhelming majority of them children. The allegations stretch into this year, when a 10-year-old girl said in a lawsuit that her pastor groped her during Bible study.
Survivors say they were violated in sanctuaries, at pastors’ homes and in tents on camping trips. A California preacher was accused of holding knives to children’s chests while forcing them to perform sex acts on each other. In Louisiana, a youth leader confessed to drugging and assaulting three boys during a sleepover. A couple in New Mexico say their pastor used his spiritual authority to drive them apart, then coerced the wife into sex.
Of the alleged abusers, 123 were ministers, and nearly half of those were youth pastors. Others were church employees, youth group leaders or Sunday school teachers. Dozens were accused of luring boys through the Royal Rangers, a Pentecostal version of the Boy Scouts.
In about 30 instances, church leaders placed alleged abusers into positions of authority after they had been accused, freeing them to strike again. Convicted sex offenders led youth groups. Accused ministers were reinstated or quietly moved to new congregations. As a result, according to lawsuits and police records, dozens more children were abused.
In nearly 40 other cases, leaders allegedly covered up or dismissed reports of misconduct — often by failing to alert police or pressuring victims to stay quiet. Melody Meza recalled a leader in her congregation praying for lying, demonic spirits to leave her after she reported abuse by a church elder.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/assembly-god-church-shield-predators-child-sex-abuse-allegations-rcna240213
Humble Narcissist:
^^^ This seems to be a problem with churches across the board.
Skeletor:
Blatant constitutional violations by government should result in the harshest of punishments.
No God, No Job: Atheist Sues State Over Religious Oath Requirement
A poll worker in South Carolina says he’s being barred from doing his job unless he takes an oath to God. The only problem? He doesn’t believe in one.
In 2023, South Carolina resident James Reel completed all the required training to serve as a poll worker for the 2024 election. But state law mandates that he swear an oath ending with “so help me God” – a line that Reel refused to say, because he’s an atheist.
The state’s response? No oath, no job. Officials refused to swear him in unless he repeated the entire phrase, God included.
Now, he’s filing a lawsuit against the state, alleging religious discrimination and a violation of his First Amendment rights.
The Christian oath reads:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been appointed, and that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties thereof, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States. So help me God.
According to Reel, he called the Greenville County voter registration and elections office to inquire if there was a way he could say the whole oath, minus the last four words. They informed him that the oath cannot be changed, and he would have to recite the entire oath to serve as a poll worker. Reel refused, citing his deeply held atheist beliefs.
Is that legal? The Freedom From Religion Foundation – which is representing Reel in his lawsuit – argues that public officials were “coercing a statement of belief in a monotheistic deity by requiring nontheists or those worshiping more than one deity to swear ‘so help me God’ in order to serve as poll workers.”
“Jim Reel, a veteran who wants to continue serving his community as a poll worker, should be congratulated, not barred simply because he is an atheist,” said Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This legal challenge seeks to put an end to this discriminatory and blatantly unconstitutional practice.”
They point to Supreme Court precedent, which they believe is on their side. In Torcaso v. Watkins (1961), the Court ruled that religious tests cannot be required to hold public office. Although that case dealt with a notary, it’s been interpreted broadly to cover all levels of public service.
Yet when confronted by the FFRF, the South Carolina Election Commission director simply responded, “the County Boards must require [the oath] be signed before trained candidates are appointed poll workers.”
https://www.themonastery.org/blog/no-god-no-job-atheist-sues-state-over-religious-oath-requirement
--- Quote ---SECTION 4. Supreme Being.
No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---SECTION 2. Person denying existence of Supreme Being not to hold office.
No person who denies the existence of the Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution.
--- End quote ---
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