Big D   Confusing the physical evidence with your own conclusion about the physical evidence is another one of my tricks.   Let me show you how I’ve still got you fooled.   

T.L.C.   Please do.  

Big D   Looking at the superficial evidence, it would appear as though the leaders of Fundamental Christianity are defying their own God.  

T.L.C.   Yes, it does.  

Big D   Please look a little deeper.   Ask yourself, “Who are they really worshiping?”

T.L.C.   Okay, who are they really worshiping?  

Big D   Well, they’re not worshiping the God of the Christian Bible.   That God, by way of Jesus, said to get off of the street corners and out of the synagogues (and churches) and go home and  into your closet and pray.   So, if they actually were following the teachings of Jesus and were privately worshipping the God of the Christian Bible, you wouldn’t know anything about it, would you.***ps-9-1 

T.L.C.   No.

Big D   And if Jesus were speaking to us today, in a time when preaching has shifted from street corners to television studios, what do you suppose he might say about praying on TV and then begging for money?   Here are his original words as stated in Mathew, chapter 6, verse 5:   

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues [churches] and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 

            Those words were spoken 2000 years ago to an uneducated, rural people who believed the Earth was flat and who lived in a culture so vastly different from what you know today that it’s almost impossible to imagine.   Stoney, how about  translating Jesus’ words into modern language.   Put it into 21^st century setting, and what might they sound like?  

T.L.C.   You’re the Biblical expert.   I’ll let you do that. 

Big D   OK. Here’s one possible translation:   

When you pray, don’t be a hypocrite and pray in any public places or on television so others may see you and commend your piety.   If you pray that way, your ego boost is your reward. . .  

T.L.C.   Are you condemning going to church to pray or to attend worship services?

Big D   Oh, certainly not.   It is the “intention” for your act of prayer that is being referred to and not where your body is when you pray.   If your intention is to sincerely link to God, you can do that in your closet and you can do so in a crowded theater and nobody else needs to be aware of your prayer.   It is not the connection to God that is in question, it is the public announcement of the connection.   

            When you pray privately at home with your family, you honor that source you call God and teach your children to follow the examples of masters like Jesus who taught love, kindness, and generosity.   You teach your children to honor, to respect and to be grateful for all they already have.  

            When you attend church, you commune with others of like mind.   Each of you is a support, comfort and guidance for the other.   When you pray together, your combed prayers amplify your personal connection to God, and, as Jesus said, “When two or more of you are gathered in my name, I am there also.”   

            Such activity is indeed beneficial; however, if you go to church to be seen praying at church, then, your reward is with ego and not with spirit.   

T.L.C.   What about school prayer?

Big D   The Christian Bible chastises public prayer and instructs people to pray in private.   Do you suppose that school prayer and praying on TV could be considered public prayer.  

T.L.C.   Of course it is,  and it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.  

Big D   Then why do you suppose they are once again ignoring their own Bible?

T.L.C.   I don't know, but I'll bet it has to do with money or power.  

Big D   School prayer is not about reaching God.  It's about mind-bending.   It's about promoting religiosity to children too young to know, or understand what's happening to their minds and to their freedom.   Remember the Communist slogan:  "Get the mind of the child and you've got the adult."  Well that technique is Christian in origin and started back in the beginning days of Roman Catholic public manipulation. ***ps-9-2

            So Stoney, are you an investigative reporter? 

T.L.C.   Yes.

Big D   And do you pray? 

T.L.C.   Well, yes, but not the begging for favors type of prayer. 

Big D   Well, then I have an investigation for you. 

T.L.C.   And that is…? 

Big D   Go out into a crowded shopping mall where others can hear you and pray verbally and out loud, then go into any church during a worship service and pray there silently with the others there.   Next, go home and literally climb into your closet, close the door, turn the light off and pray.   Then write notes about the differences you felt, and let’s talk about that next time we meet. 

T.L.C.   Why would I want to do that? 

Big D   Do it, and you’ll have your own answer.   I’ll give you a hint.   Here’s verse 6 from chapter 6 of Mathew in the Christian Bible:   

…when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 

T.L.C.   That’s more than a hint.   OK. I’ll do it. 

Big D   Good. 

T.L.C.   Isn’t money also a major reason why the fundamentalist Christians  pray in public? 

Big D   That’s definitely a consideration, and, again, it’s a question of the person’s intention for drawing that money, and, like many other aspects of the religion and theology, there are conflicting interpretations regarding their intentions.