“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Proverbs 15:8 ESV
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Proverbs 15:8 ESV
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5 ESV
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“
Funny. I read those passages (and others) to mean that public displays — like, say, praying on the 50 yard line in front of a stadium of people - are pretty much inherently prideful. I think the coach felt his prayer as being humble before the lord - which is sincere and good for him - but maybe didn’t step back and wonder if being humble before his lord in a very public way didn’t actually contradict the lord’s admonitions to not to “stand and pray… that (you) may seem by others.”
I know people of great faith who would never do that. I think coach Kennedy meant no harm, I think he meant only good things. I believe many people enjoyed and felt loved by his prayers. And I think he didn’t need to pray there and then and could have humbly stepped back.
Again, I ask how you’d react if the coach were conducting Muslim prayers on the field. It’s easy to see the actions of those who are like us as good and the same actions by those who are different as unseemly.
For the record, I’m not some atheist firebrand. I accept that God made me the way that I am and made others to believe in him and good for them. I just don’t. I never gave a hoot about saying “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and probably wouldn’t if my kids were saying it (unless they didn’t like it). But we live in a diverse, democratic country where we must constantly make tradeoffs in order to balance as best we can the rights of all. To me, it doesn’t seem like an unfair balance - to be an excessive burden on any religious person - to ask them not to ostentatiously practice their faith on public school property, particularly among students.
I thought I answered the question about if the coach was of a different faith. It wouldn’t bother me; I’ve lived in a Muslim country and understand we’re not all that different from each other. Muslims wouldn’t pray on the field like that though; it would be out of character. Regardless, if spectators wanted to join in, I’d be surprised and then I’d wonder what what compelled to join their coach in such a way. Being in communion with others is a powerful thing. Then I’d be grateful to the coach for showing them humility and gratitude for life’s blessings.
That’s good to hear. I like your response. I think all of these things are wonderful and I wish more Americans could experience communion with others, as you call it, in such a deep way. I believe that many people got that from Coach Kennedy’s group prayers. I also think it’s fair for the government to say that one can’t practice one’s religion on public - taxpayer funded - property. If the coach brought his team together to , for example, hold hands and say an ecumenical “prayer” - without reference or any particular deity or savior, but speak about humility and service and love, etc, and just have a moment of contemplation of our higher purpose, that would be not only acceptable but 100% laudable. I would love if my children’s coaches would do that. I’m afraid I wouldn’t love it if their coaches said all those things were inherently to do with Jesus or any god.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Proverbs 15:8 ESV
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5 ESV
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“
Matthew 6:6 ESV
Excellent. The key motivator here for someone being prideful instead of humble. Both motivators, however, sometimes happen in public.
Funny. I read those passages (and others) to mean that public displays — like, say, praying on the 50 yard line in front of a stadium of people - are pretty much inherently prideful. I think the coach felt his prayer as being humble before the lord - which is sincere and good for him - but maybe didn’t step back and wonder if being humble before his lord in a very public way didn’t actually contradict the lord’s admonitions to not to “stand and pray… that (you) may seem by others.”
I know people of great faith who would never do that. I think coach Kennedy meant no harm, I think he meant only good things. I believe many people enjoyed and felt loved by his prayers. And I think he didn’t need to pray there and then and could have humbly stepped back.
Again, I ask how you’d react if the coach were conducting Muslim prayers on the field. It’s easy to see the actions of those who are like us as good and the same actions by those who are different as unseemly.
For the record, I’m not some atheist firebrand. I accept that God made me the way that I am and made others to believe in him and good for them. I just don’t. I never gave a hoot about saying “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and probably wouldn’t if my kids were saying it (unless they didn’t like it). But we live in a diverse, democratic country where we must constantly make tradeoffs in order to balance as best we can the rights of all. To me, it doesn’t seem like an unfair balance - to be an excessive burden on any religious person - to ask them not to ostentatiously practice their faith on public school property, particularly among students.
I thought I answered the question about if the coach was of a different faith. It wouldn’t bother me; I’ve lived in a Muslim country and understand we’re not all that different from each other. Muslims wouldn’t pray on the field like that though; it would be out of character. Regardless, if spectators wanted to join in, I’d be surprised and then I’d wonder what what compelled to join their coach in such a way. Being in communion with others is a powerful thing. Then I’d be grateful to the coach for showing them humility and gratitude for life’s blessings.
That’s good to hear. I like your response. I think all of these things are wonderful and I wish more Americans could experience communion with others, as you call it, in such a deep way. I believe that many people got that from Coach Kennedy’s group prayers. I also think it’s fair for the government to say that one can’t practice one’s religion on public - taxpayer funded - property. If the coach brought his team together to , for example, hold hands and say an ecumenical “prayer” - without reference or any particular deity or savior, but speak about humility and service and love, etc, and just have a moment of contemplation of our higher purpose, that would be not only acceptable but 100% laudable. I would love if my children’s coaches would do that. I’m afraid I wouldn’t love it if their coaches said all those things were inherently to do with Jesus or any god.