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Tonight we have the invocation (a prayer for blessing or guidance at the beginning of a service, ceremony, etc.) being given by an atheist, Preston Smith. How does that work by having an atheist? The right to free speech is one thing, but an atheist? You would think there were anarchists sitting on the dais for even agreeing to something such as this.
Prayer is a very important concept to most of us. We begin our city commission meetings with an invocation. Praying to give our commission guidance to make the correct decisions is certainly a good idea. Atheists, on the other hand, find it as a very peculiar and unusual concept.
Just read the first words of the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I would suppose that Preston Smith is pursuing his happiness at our expense as a captive audience.
Atheists sometimes pray but rarely to God; that would be a rare exception. What they usually do is dismiss the apparent power of prayer. The reason is simply that many atheists find it all to be logically contradictory in a number of ways. When two statements contradict each other, at least one of them must be false. Something that is a logical contradiction cannot exist in reality. Source: Atheists.
One of our residents and a city board member plans on a walk-out and demonstration against Preston Smith who was purported to live in Miami, Florida. And it seems he is alleged to have made a "sick" tweet. Click here.
What's he doing here? Will he recite the Pledge to the Flag or leave out the "under God" part?
6 comments:
I'm an atheist and consider prayer to be a sort of focused motivational talk.
Do we know who created us or what caused us to be created ? No.
To the above poster, it is ALL about faith. Those comments make one wonder if you have any, maybe not.
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible".
~Thomas Aquinas
This guy is a jerk. Not because he is an Atheist, but because he is a jerk.And having this guy do whatever it is he will be doing tonight during a DECEMBER meeting is a huge insult to all Christians like myself.Why not have this guy speak in July? It's burning hot then and this guy needs all the practice he can get at getting used to burning hot places. He will be spending eternity in one.
Well, I have faith that there is something bigger than us out there ? Yes. Whatever it is pretty darned amazing, even if it is just a random clashing of atoms.
Do I think it is the Christian God? No, and I hope it isn't. How could a "being" that allows so many contradictory versions of himself be considered loving and moral? Is it a trick, guess which interpretation is correct and hope you picked the right one? Verycruel if you ask me.
I would also like to add that I don't do drugs, I'm not a Communist, I believe that life begins at conception and abortion is wrong (science is in denial, I think), and as I am not in a committed relationship I am celibate. Call me an evil atheist.
I don't know anything about this speaker, by the way. I'm just speaking for myself.
What is offensive about this Mr. Smith is that he threatened to rape the teen daughter of someone who criticized Obamacare. That is what I find disgusting about him being allowed to start off our meeting with his words which I will never call an invocation. We should have had real clergy after this human being finished his entertainment and deliver a real prayer! I hope that if he is ever allowed to lead our meeting with his words that it not be done during Christmas and Easter months, plain and simple. I like the July idea for sure, I will make sure I boycott any meeting where he may disgrace our podium again.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah,
Mark A. Parrilla
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