Ga. Seniors Told They Can't Pray Before Meals

[thundley4]

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. -- Preston Blackwelder proudly showed off a painting of his grandmother that had hung next to the front door of his Port Wentworth home.
She was the woman who led him to God, Blackwelder said Friday.
And with that firm religious footing, Blackwelder said it would be preposterous to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth's Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah because of a federal guideline.

"She would say pray anyway," Blackwelder said of his grandmother. "She'd say don't listen."
But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state.

On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence.

The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn "Pig" Jones.
Tim Rutherford, Senior Citizens Inc. vice president, said some of his staff recently visited the center and noticed people praying shortly before lunch was served. Rutherford said his company provides meals like baked chicken, steak tips and rice and salads at a cost of about $6 a plate.

Seniors taking the meals pay 55 cents and federal money foots the rest of the bill, Rutherford said.
"We can't scoff at their rules," he said of federal authorities. "It's a part of the operational guidelines."
Rutherford said the moment of silence was introduced to protect that funding. He said although the change may have been misinterpreted, perhaps his company could have done a better job selling it.

"It's interpreted that we're telling people that they can't pray, but we aren't saying that," he said. "We're asking them to pray to themselves. Have that moment of silence."

Link

Yet they tell us that there is no war on Christianity.

[The Village Idiot]

Pretty soon people on welfare will be told not to pray at home.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

So only atheists are constitutionally permitted to benefit from government services?

Is this what we're being told?

[thundley4]

So only atheists are constitutionally permitted to benefit from government services?

Is this what we're being told?

Yes. Next question.

[The Village Idiot]

apparently

[NHSparky]

Pretty soon people on welfare will be told not to pray at home.

Oh, they'll be told to pray--as they kneel at the altar of the state.

[JohnnyReb]

Non believers aren't allowed to pratice their religion in public....only muslims.

[littlelamb]

Pray at the almighty feet of Lord Obama

[Thor]

Restricting prayer flies in the face of the First Amendment, but I suppose that the Libtards can't realize this fact. Somehow they have interpreted that it means freedom FROM religion, which is NOT the case. By prohibiting the free exercise of religion they are violating people's civil rights.

It was announced this morning that they senior citizens center has rescinded their ban on prayer before the meals. I'm glad to see that someone had some ability to read and comprehend the 1st Amendment.

[thundley4]

Restricting prayer flies in the face of the First Amendment, but I suppose that the Libtards can't realize this fact. Somehow they have interpreted that it means freedom FROM religion, which is NOT the case. By prohibiting the free exercise of religion they are violating people's civil rights.

It was announced this morning that they senior citizens center has rescinded their ban on prayer before the meals. I'm glad to see that someone had some ability to read and comprehend the 1st Amendment.

I doubt that the 1st amendment had anything to do with their backtracking on this issue. It was more likely the feedback from having this story spread around.