A Prayer

I received the following by e-mail from my cousin Kathy. Think it deserves a post here...

This Pastor has guts!! Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the KansasSenate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and call it Pluralism.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators ! walked out during the prayer in protest.. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God." If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for everything." Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world.

-- The Shack did not write this, but he does agree with it.

If I Were Kidnapped in Iraq

If I were in Iraq and got kidnapped by one of those hooded freakos that go around beheading people...I would REFUSE to go in front of a camera and plead for my life on worldwide TV and internet, asking for my country to withdraw their troops. I would refuse to dishonor my country and its armed forces by doing this. Instead, I would tell the hooded freakos to chop my head off right there and then...or to let me go, their choice. The more we give in to these murderous morons, the more they will be encouraged to keep on murdering and kidnapping.

--So Sayeth The Shack

Kerry's Catholic Quandary

As a member of the Catholic Church, Senator Kerry claims that he is opposed to abortion. Yet, as a presidential candidate, he must court the "pro-choice" vote, and, as a politician, whether senator or eventually president, he must represent the majority of his constituents, even if that majority opinion conflicts with his religious beliefs. This is called "separation of church and state", and is part of the constitution of this country. (By the way, does anyone know, are "pro-choicers" a majority in this country, or just a highly vocal minority, like gays and those promoting gay marriage?) There are those who seem to have a problem with Kerry's "two-sided" stance on the abortion issue. This includes some Catholic Church leaders who seem to feel that he should not be allowed to receive communion. If this is the case, there are a lot of other Catholics who should be denied communion. I hear many say "I'm Catholic, but I'm pro-choice" or, "I'm Catholic, but I disagree with the Pope on such-and-such." I have said this before...the Catholic Church is NOT a democracy. What the Pope says goes, and if you cannot abide by that, you should not call your self a Catholic. But I am wandering from my original point, which is, this country IS a democracy, with church and state constitutionally separate. No political leader, in any capacity, from small-town mayor to president, has the right to push his or her religious beliefs on anyone. In this respect, I feel that Senator Kerry is simply doing his job as a political leader...keeping his religious beliefs separate from his political statements and actions. For that, if nothing else, The Shack respects Senator Kerry.

--So Sayeth The Shack

The Iraq Hornet Nest

President Bush's war in Iraq can be likened to a homeowner tearing down a hornet nest in the yard. He goes out with a baseball bat and smashes the nest (Iraq) to the ground, then immediately and proudly declares "mission accomplished". Suddenly, a swarm of angry hornets (the Iraqi insurgents, radical Islamists and others) surround him, stinging him to death.

I would enter this as a cartoon. Unfortunately I am one of the worst five artists on the face of this Earth and if I were to draw it as a cartoon, no one would be able to tell what it was. Maybe I can persuade my son to draw this as a cartoon.

--So Sayeth The Shack