Have you received a version of a religious diatribe attributed to someone named Samuel Thompson? The one I've received (several times) looks like this:
Samuel Thompson wrote:
I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution. Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game. "But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. And we are in the Bible Belt. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect-somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome... "But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer. Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations. Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us just to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well..........just sue me.. The silent majority has been silent too long.. it's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want.. it is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray.. you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right.. but by golly you are no longer going to take our rights away .. we are fighting back.. and we WILL WIN! After all the God you have the right to denounce is on our side! God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him... God bless America, despite all her faults.. still the greatest nation of all..... God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God... May 2003 be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Keep looking up...... In God WE Trust
If you agree with this, please pass it on. If not, delete it.
This chain-letter is based on an article by Nick Gholson, a sports editor for TRNOnline.com, written in 1999. The first part of the chain-letter is typically written verbatim from the article, but always omit some important parts (here italicized in red):
Some people, it seems, get offended way too easily.
I mean, isn't that what all this prayer hullabaloo is all about -- people getting offended? At least that's what I hear the courts and the ACLU telling us.
If you read Sound Off, you know I am not easily offended. Outside of getting run off the road by a Mack truck, nothing much offends me. Daddy and Mama gave little Nicky a sense of humor.
Some people, however, either weren't born with a sense of humor or they lost it in a crap game.
These people are still in the minority, but those of us in the majority are always tippy-toeing around, trying to make sure we don't step on the toes or hurt the feelings of the sense of humorless.
And you can bet there's a lawyer standing on every corner making sure we don't.
Take this prayer deal. It's absolutely ridiculous.
Some atheist goes to a high school football game, hears a kid say a short prayer before the game and gets offended. So he hires a lawyer and goes to court and asks somebody to pay him a whole bunch of money for all the damage done to him.
You would have thought the kid kicked him in the crotch.
Damaged for life by a 30-second prayer? Am I missing something here?
I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations. Nor do I believe that not praying will result in more serious injuries on the field or more fatal car crashes after the game.
In fact, I'm not so sure God would even be at all these games if he didn't have to be. That's just one of the down sides of omnipresence. Do you think God Almighty himself would have watched Spearman beat Panhandle 50-0 Friday night if he didn't have to?
If God really liked sports, the Russians would never have won a single gold medal, New York would never play in a World Series and Deion's toe would be healed by now.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights.
“Taking offense at prayer? God help us”
TRNOnline.com, Sept. 5, 1999
Google cache
The author of the latter part of the letter is unknown. Perhaps it was Samuel Thompson who wrote:
The silent majority has been silent too long.. it's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want.. it is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray.. you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right.. but by golly you are no longer going to take our rights away .. we are fighting back.. and we WILL WIN! After all the God you have the right to denounce is on our side! God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him... God bless America, despite all her faults.. still the greatest nation of all..... God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God... May 2003 be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Keep looking up...... In God WE Trust
If you agree with this, please pass it on. If not, delete it.
This author didtn't realise that Christians don't have any special rights granted to them that people of other religions (or people of no religion) don't have.
This author didn't realise that our service men and women are fighting tor the control of resources (also known as the liberation of the Iraqi people), not for our right to pray and worship God..
This author didn't realise that the “majority“ to whom Mr. Gholson referred was that group of people with a sense of humor, not the “Silent Majority“, or the “Moral Majority“, or the “Christian Majoirty“.
If you must pass this letter on, please don't pass it on to me. If you do, you will receive a letter back from me stating exactly how much I disagree. (And if I don't know you, your email address will be reported for SPAMming me with this stupid religious chain-letter!)