Originally Posted by BFred07:
Nothing at all to stop people in the crowd from praying together during a moment of reflection or any other time for that matter, that's a right protected by the constitution. The only part that the legal aspect is being questioned on is if it can be done over the PA system but a PA is not required.
As for the argument about Christians being discriminated against, it is not comparing apples to apples on racial discrimination but yes Christians are discriminated against and every year there are more than a handful of Chirstians who are murdered because of their faith, there is currently far more discrimination and attacks against Christianity than there are against homosexuality and throughout history as a whole there has been more discrimination against Christians & Jews than most other types of discrimination including racial.
But there are gays, lesbians, Muslims, blacks, etc., murdered each year too for being whoever they happen to be. Of course there were periods where Christians were treated badly, and so were witches (still are, for that matter), atheists, blacks, and just about every group. I don't really think it's a contest on who is treated the worst, but I just don't agree with the bolded part and I don't think it can be proven statistically because the gay people often have to hide who they are as do atheists in some areas, and attacks and discrimination can be subtler than screaming obscenities or dragging behind cars. Sorry, but it isn't true that being black many years ago is the same as what Christians go through today. Where in this country have you seen a Christian being made to sit in the back of a bus or not allowed to eat in a diner, use a restroom, pool, or belong to a private country club...not to mention when did you see a Christian forbidden to enter public school simply because s/he happened to be Christian with no other considerations but the faith? While humans do tend to think they have it worse than others no matter what group they are in...but the same freedom to be non-Christian protects the Christians in our country as well.
Consider this for a moment. I am happy with who I am and what I believe, but there is no way you could convince me that it wouldn't make a difference most places in our area and many areas of our country in a job interview if I said I wasn't Christian. As I said...do you think an atheist or agnostic will be president or vice president in the foreseeable future? Of course not...most groups face some kind of issues at some point, but the main thread that runs through it all is the need for some people to try to ostracize anyone who is different in a way that bothers them. This goes all around...chanting names at Christians is no better in my view than chanting them at atheists or any other group.
Just a thought...how many atheists even are in Congress? http://bligbi.com/2007/03/12/f...atheist-in-congress/ http://chronicle.com/blogs/bra...n-congress-why/31230
Now there are plenty of atheists around...why do you (not you yourself, but a general you) think that could be? Perhaps that a great candidate would be told that if s/he wants to be elected it isn't smart to talk about his lack of belief or be attacked mercilessly? I would bet that is at least part of it. I'm not saying those sources above are perfect, but I could have posted many on our country's leaders saying awful things about atheists or people of other religions. Really, there is discrimination everywhere...how about we work to stop it instead of trying to figure out who gets picked on more? I mean if we start all treating each other with respect and this problem would really become a non-issue.