Man Requests Satanic Prayer Before Town Council Meeting

[John V]

Horseshit. If you think Matthew 6:5-6 isn't specifically addressing the types of prayer engaged in before civic events then those passages serve no purpose. I think you understand this.

Ridiculous. The verses address hypocritical individuals.

Your inability to grasp that they are hypocrites precisely because they pray in public is really annoying.

Your insistence that your interpretation of these verses is the only possible correct one is really annoying. I think that Jesus knew his own intent better than you do, and he prayed in view of other men. I think Jesus' apostles were in a better position to understand his intent than you are, and they prayed in view of other men.

You took two verses and reached a wrong conclusion because you don't know the Scriptures as a whole.

[RobbyPants]

I agree that the point of the verse is likely to say "the purpose of prayer is to pray to God and you shouldn't be doing so to show off to people". At least, that's what I was taught in church.

That being said, I can see precisely two reasons to pray in a public setting:

• To make a public spectacle: this is explicitly forbidden by Jesus, making the Christian prayer ironically non-Christian.
  
• To ask God for guidance before a meeting: you can argue one way or the other whether or not this counts as a spectacle, but at the end of the day the adherents could all pray silently and remove all doubt, but they don't.
  

This leads me to believe, their intent is, at least in part, to create a spectacle and again, ironically makes their prayers to the Christian god non-Christian.

[Cato]

Ridiculous. The verses address hypocritical individuals.

Again...Your inability to grasp that they are hypocrites precisely because they pray in public is really annoying. You are commanded not to be like the hypocrites that pray in public, yet you are still trying to justify praying in public. That is ridiculous.

Your insistence that your interpretation of these verses is the only possible correct one is really annoying. I think that Jesus knew his own intent better than you do, and he prayed in view of other men. I think Jesus' apostles were in a better position to understand his intent than you are, and they prayed in view of other men.

You took two verses and reached a wrong conclusion because you don't know the Scriptures as a whole.

What's to interpret? It says don't be a hypocrite, go pray in private. That's what it says. It won't mean something different no matter how hard you try. Words have meaning. Just admit you choose not to do what your god demands of you.

I'm pretty sure my high marks in Catechism for a decade makes me more than knowledgeable about "Scriptures as a whole".

[Ryantology]

Your insistence that your interpretation of these verses is the only possible correct one is really annoying. I think that Jesus knew his own intent better than you do, and he prayed in view of other men. I think Jesus' apostles were in a better position to understand his intent than you are, and they prayed in view of other men.

You took two verses and reached a wrong conclusion because you don't know the Scriptures as a whole.

In light of this, there is a third interpretation which makes the most sense, as it most accurately reflects the true character of Christianity: Jesus was a hypocrite.

[Esquilax]

In light of this, there is a third interpretation which makes the most sense, as it most accurately reflects the true character of Christianity: Jesus was a hypocrite.

Or Jesus was a moron who couldn't keep his positions straight. Or Jesus was a fictional character derived from the writings of multiple authors, or a single author with little care about internal consistency, and is hence part of a badly formed narrative...

Both positions with exactly as much evidence behind them as any other.

[Lemonvariable72]

All I can say is that I hope atheists keep this kind of protest up.

[John V]

What's to interpret?

Whether it's an if-then or if-and-only-if statement.

It says don't be a hypocrite, go pray in private. That's what it says. It won't mean something different no matter how hard you try. Words have meaning. Just admit you choose not to do what your god demands of you.

I'm pretty sure my high marks in Catechism for a decade makes me more than knowledgeable about "Scriptures as a whole".

Ah, your high marks in Catechism give you a better understanding than the apostles who were with him for years. Got it!

[Ryantology]

Or Jesus was a moron who couldn't keep his positions straight.

Taking into consideration that Jesus and the OT God are supposed to be the same being, then this is very certainly true.

[Lemonvariable72]

What's to interpret?

Whether it's an if-then or if-and-only-if statement.

It says don't be a hypocrite, go pray in private. That's what it says. It won't mean something different no matter how hard you try. Words have meaning. Just admit you choose not to do what your god demands of you.

I'm pretty sure my high marks in Catechism for a decade makes me more than knowledgeable about "Scriptures as a whole".

Ah, your high marks in Catechism give you a better understanding than the apostles who were with him for years. Got it!

What, the son of a omnipotent God can't even handle making himself clear?

[John V]

What, the son of a omnipotent God can't even handle making himself clear?

Proverbs 25
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

ETA: But you knew that, being at the top of your Catechism class and all.