Praying upon the unindoctrinated

I’ve been following with a certain degree of interest the case involving the Greece Town Board’s use of prayer to open its meetings. I found the practice to be a little unnerving and was kind of shocked on Monday when I saw that the Supreme Court said it was A-OK.

I was even more shocked on Tuesday when I went to the Niagara County Legislature meeting to find that they follow the same practice: prayer to start the meeting.

As I sat there, or stood there, rather, I went from being amused to annoyed to downright upset about it.

A government meeting is no place for prayer. If our county officials want to ask God for help, more power to them. I do so regularly. But I don’t force others to listen — and neither should they.

Of course, we weren’t only asked to listen, we were instructed to rise and bow our heads. I did so, essentially, out of peer pressure. I don’t want to be “that guy” who raises a stink at a meeting over government-coerced indoctrination of religion. But let’s face it. That’s what it is.

Following the prayer, we all put our hands over our hearts and said the pledge to the flag. So you have a baseline for how liberal I am on certain topics, I find the coerced recital of the pledge equally upsetting. Indoctrination of nationalism is offensive to me, too. But back to prayer.

Liberal as I may be on some things, I consider myself deeply religious. I believe in God. I go to church. And I pray, although not as often as I should, no doubt. Those who have read my columns for a long time know that I invoke God from time to time. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite, but I think not. I’m not the government. And I don’t pressure others into my religion.

I don’t want prayer from the government any more than I want my church to tell me how to its interpretation of the Constitution. The two influences just shouldn’t meet.

To be fair, there’s nothing in the Constitution, the Declaration, or anywhere else, really, that says there’s a “separation of church and state.” Some believe it’s implied by the First Amendment guarantee to freedom of religion, which many (self included) interpret as “freedom from religion,” meaning freedom against the type of indoctrination that happens in Greece … and Niagara County … and who knows how many other places in the nation.

The attorney for the Town of Greece applauded the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday, saying the court affirmed "that Americans are free to pray." On that, I’d agree. But we should also be free from being prayed to … or at.

If, as a Christian, I find the practice offensive, how do others feel?

Scott Leffler is a Christian. But that’s between him and God. You be what you want to be. He won’t hold it against you as long as you don’t pressure him to convert. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.

New pope inspires us all to be Catholic

I love the new pope.

Before I really get into this, let me start by saying that I’m not Catholic. I’ve never practiced Catholicism and I have no interest in doing so. I’m a perfectly content Methodist. But the Catholic Church intrigues me.

I hold some traditions that I’m told are “Catholic,” such as giving up something for Lent, or holding the pope in high regard. Maybe this is a carry-over from my parents’ upbringing. Or maybe it’s just me being me. I don’t know.

I used to joke with my now-ex-wife that she had to do whatever I told her to do because “the pope said so.” She reminded me at least once a week that we weren’t Catholic. Worth noting, she never did what I told her to do. And in case you’re wondering, that has nothing whatsoever to do with her standing as my ex-wife.

Long story short (too late), there is a hint of Catholicism in me. Which is why I’m so happy to report that I love the new pope.

President Obama met with Pope Francis on Thursday, giving the head of the church a custom-made seed chest with fruit and vegetable seeds, in hopes that they’ll bloom into something substantial, much like he hopes their relationship does.

Wednesday, the pope removed a German bishop from his diocese after reports of the bishop’s $43 million residence upset the faithful. Francis had temporarily expelled Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst — the “bling bishop” — from Limburg in October.

What the pope was conveying is that the church will not tolerate excess. Which is closely in line with many of his other teachings and doings.

In December, it was revealed that the pope occasionally slips away from the Vatican in order to minister to and help the homeless.

He also shared his 77th birthday with three homeless men. The men live on the street in the Rome neighborhood just outside the Vatican’s walls and were invited by the Holy See official in charge of alms-giving to attend the Mass, which Francis celebrates daily at the hotel where he lives on Vatican City grounds.

To me this is all new. The pope is loving. And charitable. Nice, even. Heck, you could almost say that he is a good Christian.

Now, this isn’t to disrespect the popes prior to Francis. But they certainly never gave me any warm fuzzies. In my life there has never been a pope who I would want to have a beer with. Nor, I’m pretty sure, has there has been a pope who would want to have a beer with me. But that’s all changed now with Francis.

I can only hope that the church’s newfound sense of compassion rubs off on humanity as a whole. Because I kind of feel like we’re all a little Catholic — even if we’re not.

Scott Leffler is a Protestant who eats fish on Fridays during Lent. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.

GOP denial of science is frightening

About 5,000 years ago there was a great Egyptian empire. They created some really cool things. They used pulleys and levers to create massive buildings and monuments. They used rope trusses to strengthen their ships. They made paper and pottery. Glassworks, medicine, and astronomical mapping were all commonplace. And some believe that they even had working batteries and electric lights. That was all thousands of years before the birth of Christ.

Other empires built on what the Egyptians did for a while. And then *poof* — suddenly technological advancement stopped. Hello, Dark Ages. Somewhere around the 5th Century A.D., people just stopped being smart. And then there was a point where being smart was absolutely frowned upon. Smart people were obviously heretics because God likes us stupid — or something.

Fortunately, we found our way. Art, architecture, and industry all advanced eventually and now we have computers and space ships and cures for all sorts of diseases. Knowledge is power. And it makes us better.

But alas, some out there think that knowledge is dangerous and technological advancement and scientific learning are something to be feared — or at least ignored. Those people, I have found — by and large — are mostly Republicans.

Yes, I’m picking on Republicans again this week. They just make it so easy.

I type in my Google search bar “Republicans deny” and the autocomplete gives me some very interesting options. The first five in order are:

• Republicans deny global warming
• Republicans deny science
• Republicans deny climate change
• Republicans deny funding for embassy security
• Republicans deny evolution

Trying the same thing with Democrats, nine of the first 10 options were either “God” or “Jesus Christ.” I’m not sure what that says about Democrats but at least they don’t deny science.

So my thought here is that if Republicans get their way, we’re headed back to the Dark Ages. We’ll be refusing technological advancements left and right while teaching our children the Bible in science class.

Personally, I am a man of faith. I believe that there is a God. I also believe in evolution. Not necessarily that we “came from apes,” as the anti-evolution crowd likes to say, but that we are not the same beings were were millions of years ago. Mind you, I think that “millions of years ago” existed and the world was not created a mere 6,000 years ago as some radicals would insist. And not only would they insist it, they would insist that my children be taught such drivel — in science class!

There’s nothing that says that you must choose between God and science. There’s room for both. But one is a matter of faith and the other is, well, science. One should be taught at home. And the other should be taught in school. Faith should be explored. While knowledge should be expanded.

What I want to know is how does “the Earth is flat party” keep getting elected? How dumb do you have to be to vote for someone who doesn’t believe that dinosaurs were real? Yes, I realize that not ALL Republicans deny science, but a Gallop poll from three years ago says that 52 percent of Republicans polled believe in “strict creationism” and that the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

And we elect these people to make decisions for us …

Scott Leffler believes in dinosaurs, evolution and love. Also, Twitter. Follow him there @scottleffler. 

Random thoughts on state of society

The debate over health care in this country has gone from bad to worse, with accusations bandied about by both sides, saying that the GOP hates women and that the left hates religion.

Personally, I think both sides might be oversimplifying the issue a bit and everyone needs to step away from the microphone until cooler heads prevail.

I can say this however: Few things sicken me more than the number of people who hate in the name of their God. I say “their God” instead of just “God,” because it’s obviously a different God than the one I know.

Using religion as a means to attack someone just seems to go against everything religion is supposed to mean. It’s as though some people’s Bibles only came with the book of Leviticus. None of that feel-good New Testament stuff. It’s maddening.

•••

The Republican race for the White House continues to muddle along, ever closer to what almost looks like a guaranteed brokered convention. As you may know, I’m a Ron Paul fan, but he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance, so I basically don’t have a horse in that race. Come April 24, I won’t be able to vote in the New York primary, but I have to imagine it will actually count this year, something it seldom does.

•••

My oldest daughter was telling me the other day that she’s scared for the future because she’ll be voting in four years, but doesn’t know anything about the current race for the White House. She then named the four GOP candidates and stated briefly what they stand for — or at least what they are perceived to stand for.

Personally, I don’t fear for the future. I fear for the present because my 14-year-old daughter who considers herself uninformed knows more about the contest than most of my adult friends.

•••

I’ve long suggested that there should be an entrance exam to the voting booth complete with five basic questions about the candidates themselves. They should be factual questions that anyone who’s voting would know the answer to. Your grade on the exam would be equal to how much your vote counts. If you get only one question right, your vote only counts 20 percent. If you get them all right, your vote counts 100 percent. This would ensure that the most important decisions made in this great nation of our are being made from those in the know.

Unfortunately, it’s not that way and everyone’s vote counts the same meaning our decisions are being made by the dumb masses.

•••

I understand political expediency and the art of compromise, but I’m disappointed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo caved on his promise to veto the legislative district lines if they were not drawn by an independent (non-partisan) panel. As such, we are doomed to 10 more years of near-guaranteed incumbency protection.

The same people who have gotten us into the mess that we’re in are pretty much a shoe-in to keep us wallowing in the same mess for another decade.