If you’re a senior citizen who’s fallen on hard times and you’ve been praying for a free meal, stop praying. You’re violating the constitutionally-guaranteed separation of church and hunger. (We’re not constitutional scholars like President Obama, so we’re not quite sure exactly where that prohibition is spelled out our founding document.)
WSB-TV reports the story of political correctness run amok:
Preston Blackwelder proudly showed off a painting of his grandmother that had hung next to the front door of his Port Wentworth home.
She was the woman who led him to God, Blackwelder said Friday.
And with that firm religious footing, Blackwelder said it would be preposterous to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth’s Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah because of a federal guideline.
“She would say pray anyway,” Blackwelder said of his grandmother. “She’d say don’t listen.”
But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state.
On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence.
The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn “Pig” Jones.
Tim Rutherford, Senior Citizens Inc. vice president, said some of his staff recently visited the center and noticed people praying shortly before lunch was served. Rutherford said his company provides meals like baked chicken, steak tips and rice and salads at a cost of about $6 a plate. Seniors taking the meals pay 55 cents and federal money foots the rest of the bill, Rutherford said.
“We can’t scoff at their rules,” he said of federal authorities. “It’s a part of the operational guidelines.”
Just another example of those damn bitter clingers, stubbornly clinging to their religion and their appetites.
H/T: WSB-TV
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021
View Comments (11)
Obongo is the Anti-Christ. He's not from Kenya or America..., he's from Hell. Just like in "the Omen".. his mother was a bitch and his father is the Devil.
We should try putting God back in government. We need to do something. I don't know if a blanket religion terminology should be put in, because I'm not sure who some of the people in power are praying to. Basically the country is going to hell, so you can see where I'm coming from regarding the blanket religion concern.
Can I pray we get a better president in 2012?
Apparently you cannot if you are receiving any sort of federal underwriting.
Seriously?
I think that these people think that it is religion that is IMPOSING itself on the State, when that wasn't the point as drb pointed out. The point was to prevent the State from IMPOSING itself on the individual religious practices and beliefs of each citizen.
The State doesn't need protection from religion, but OBVIOUSLY religion does need protection from the State. Prohibiting people from verbally expressing gratitude to a Higher Power (who is not the Government*) for the meal is an intrusion on basic human right and absolutely unconstitutional. Next ppl who pause before eating and nod their heads and mentally express gratitude to a Higher Power will be asked why didn't they dig in immediately after getting their food and if they said I was praying they may get slapped down too. They may even get slapped just by the behavior even if they are not asked if they actually prayed.
*I really do think that GOVERNMENT(s) (ppl in Govts) at some point in history, will be asking citizens to pray to it (them) in gratitude for anything a citizen gets from it. This is why I don't believe in Big Government it can so easily require people to worship it and inflect punishment to those who don't want to. Scary.
Sad misunderstanding of the condtitution which expressly protects our right to openly and publicly practice our individual religous beliefs without government interferrence and without government dictating which religion should be practiced above any other.
I know how they can pray and the government wont mind:
Convert to Islam.
It is probably a hate crime to interfere with one of the worlds great religions.
You are right more than we can all probably imagine.
Sadly, you're probably right about that...
It's in There somewhere. Fools just ASKIN' for the Big Zot !
this is just retarded, this isnt putting religion into state