Kansas 'Prayer Phones'

[WillParkinson]

[defacto7]

1. "I'm sorry. The number you have reached...

g....o....d... is not in service at this time... If you think you have received this message in error, go to your nearest emergency room and ask for their crisis manager, or just dial 911. Goodbye.

[DetlefK]

2. As thou shalt not pray in public, do it in the seclusion of a prayer-"booth".

[Act_of_Reparation]

3. Matthew 6:5

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Funny how they always seem to forget or ignore this passage.

Derp.

[trotsky]

4. Same thing that came to my mind when I saw that picture.

But then I've even seen liberal DUers try and dismiss that verse when they see public piety that they approve of. Let's face it - any Christian can ignore any part of the bible they want, and still consider *themselves* to be a TRUE Christian.

[Act_of_Reparation]

5. It's hard to decide who is more deluded.

The conversation with conservative believers goes something like this:

"I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of GAWD!"

"What about all that slavery shit? You think people should be allowed to own other people?"

"THAT'S NOT IN MY BIBLE!"



Meanwhile, liberal believers go something like this:

"I don't believe every word of the Bible is true."

"Oh, really? Which parts aren't true?"

"The parts I don't like."

[Stuckinthebush]

6. Which is worse?

I've always appreciated that liberal Christians are at least more socially aware, however, I respect the crazy hard liners for their integrity.

If you are going to believe in that religion then at least don't try to whitewash it. While nuts, the fundamentalists at least are more true to the text.

I have more patience with the fundamentalists because they don't seem to know better. The people I have the least patience for are the liberal Christians who are highly educated and SHOULD know better.

[Act_of_Reparation]

7. It can be difficult to tell

I think we can all agree the conservatives are much more damaging in much more obvious ways. They are obstreperous, stupid, and always standing in front of a camera.

The damage done by liberal believers is less transparent, and less intentional. Buying into the tired old kumbaya-can't-we-all-just-get-along-everything's-relative trope, they often position themselves so they are defending--instead of combating--conservative believers. They defend the RCC because "not all Catholics are like that", they defend Islamic fundamentalists because criticizing Islam is "Islamophobic". They really seem to believe there's nothing inherently wrong with religion itself, that it is a few bad apples who are spoiling the bunch. Ultimately, they wind up criticizing the bad apples, while rabidly defending the institutions and traditions that created them.

It's the very definition of ice-skating uphill.

[Lordquinton]

14. They claim a couple bad apples

When the tree it's self has a virus.

Love your icon, btw.

[Brainstormy]

11. Sam Harris on which is worse

Your post brought to mind Sam Harris' remarks on religious moderates who, Sam thinks, "give cover to religious fanatics and are every bit as delusional." He covers this in detail in The End of Faith.

Essay on topic here. http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-harris15mar15,0,2871642.story#axzz2lJ5ttEfH

[Act_of_Reparation]

20. It is eerily evocative of the Religion forum

Where you can't discuss religion unless you've taken the position religion is essentially good, but corrupted by those few bad apples. No honest discussion whatsoever.

[NastyRiffraff]

8. Is this a joke???

I honestly thought it was something out of The Onion, until I googled it: http://elitedaily.com/news/world/america-kansas-town-installs-phone-prayer-booths-residents-can-call-god-whenever-want/

[JNelson6563]

9. Great OP & replies!

These "prayer phones", or whatever the hell they are, are the dumbest thing I've seen in a long time.

The caption is very good. The replies in this thread are spot on.

Julie

[frogmarch]

10. An article snip

http://topekasnews.com/kansas-town-installs-phone-prayer-booths-residents-can-call-god-whenever-need/

Kansas City, KS – Kansas City resident Michelle Ioda woke up early this Sunday morning. As she does on most Sundays, Michelle plans to make the morning worship service at her local church. But this Sunday, she rose a little early so she could visit a nearby prayer booth recently installed by her city council.

“The Chiefs are playing the Broncos. I forgot to go pray last Monday and for all I know, that is why [Peyton] Manning’s ankle MRI came back negative. If I had prayed, maybe God would have sprained it a little more and he would be out this week.”

[Curmudgeoness]

12. I got a belly laugh out of this one

when I saw that there is no phone in the phone booth.

Then I realized that of course there is no phone. God doesn't believe in phones. He uses bushes.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. I didn't even notice that!

Makes sense, though.

What would people think if they picked up the phone and there was no one at the other end?

[Lordquinton]

15. Doesn't this violate the first?

they were installed by the city counsel, right?

[BlueJazz]

17. Read this (from the Newspaper and Mayor)

"The booths also feature disclaimers that state that the device is installed for religious means"

WTF !!

[Lordquinton]

19. Ok, I'm going to just assume that a lawsuit is in the works

because they aren't even pretending here.

[BlueJazz]

16. As an American I'm appalled. As an Australian I'm extremely appalled. As a Floridian I'm glad ...

...that someplace else in nuttier than Florida.

[dimbear]

18. Just what we need in case of emergencies in a public place, something that looks like a phone.

Smooth.

[onager]

21. An Islamic version, sorta...

For 2 years I lived/worked in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. And I think I'm remembering this story correctly..

In Islamic religious mythology, Jeddah is known as the burial place of Eve. Yes, THAT Eve...talking snake, suspicious fruit, etc.

For decades, maybe centuries, Eve's tomb in Jeddah was a popular tourist destination. You could even talk to her, via a speaking tube!

Now these people may have been mostly still living in the 7th century, but I'm pretty sure no one actually EVER believed they were talking to snake-woman Eve.

The people who "called" Eve were mostly young women recently married, with new babies, or those who wanted babies. The woman on the other end of the line was an elderly woman, often a very poor widow, with lots of experience in marriage and child-raising.

The "callers" would leave a little bit of money which was divvied up among the "Eves."

So everybody benefited - young women could ask questions about sex that they were too timid to ask their own relatives. And the older women helping them got a bit of money.

That lasted until the Wahhabi shitheads took over in Saudi Arabia - those same royal shitheads who run the country today. The site of Eve's tomb is still there today, but nobody talks to her anymore. Women pilgrims would still often go there to pray for pregnancy, though.

According to Wikipedia, things are a little different in our enlightened modern age, of course...

In 1975, the site was sealed with concrete by religious authorities, who abhor pilgrims praying at tombs.

OK, guess not...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Eve

[Iggo]

22. sofuckingstupidsofuckingstupidsofuckingstupidsofuckingstupidsofuckingstupid...