Marines Asked to Pray for Bush?

[JPhillips]

I got this from the ABC website. It makes me so mad I want to scream. While I am fine with anyone praying for whomever they choose, this is way over the line. What the hell is the point of mailing the White House to let them know you have prayed for Bush? That bit about "regardless of critics" also has me pissed.

I don't expect it, but Bush should make sure this shiat stops. The marines shouldn't be worried about making sure the president knows they are godly enough. I'd much rather see Bush send a note to each marine saying he has prayed for them.


THE STORY
They may be the ones facing danger on the battlefield, but US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for President George W Bush.

Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called "A Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush.

"I have committed to pray for you, your family, your staff and our troops during this time of uncertainty and tumult. May God's peace be your guide," says the pledge, according to a journalist embedded with coalition forces.

The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president, a born-again Christian who likes to invoke his God in speeches.

Sunday's is "Pray that the President and his advisers will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding".

Monday's reads "Pray that the President and his advisers will be strong and courageous to do what is right regardless of critics".

[MJ4H]

I have to admit Im a little bit puzzled. While I can see it seems a bit nonsensical to actually MAIL the thing, what is so wrong with doing what is right regardless of critics? And it never hurts to pray for people that make decisions that affect the lives of millions of people.

[astralhaze]

Jesus H Christ allmighty. My perception of Bush as truly believing God is on his side is only reinforced by this. Ridiculous.

[Easy Mac]

Look into my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of Personality

[lynchjm24]

Originally posted by JPhillips

The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president, a born-again Christian who likes to invoke his God in speeches.



I doubt that Bush had anything to do with printing these, and it's just the sort of thing you find on top of your local payphone.

[CAsterling]

Originally posted by astralhaze
Jesus H Christ allmighty. My perception of Bush as truly believing God is on his side is only reinforced by this. Ridiculous.

I always find it strange that anybody belives god takes sides, and it always seems everybody believes he is on their side.

[heybrad]

God doesnt have time right now with March Madness, the NBA Playoffs around the corner, and the start of the baseball season.

[astralhaze]

Originally posted by CAsterling
I always find it strange that anybody belives god takes sides, and it always seems everybody believes he is on their side.

Well, I mean, come on, God is an American after all :D

[NoMyths]

...I'm afraid I can't HELP IT!

[lynchjm24]

Originally posted by heybrad
the NBA Playoffs around the corner

God does not like the NBA. That is what makes Ron Artest so upset.

[ShagVT]

I agree that Bush had nothing to do with the printing/distribution of these. What in the story would make you think he does? And I certainly have to wonder what makes you think Bush is expecting these things to be mailed back in?

[ShagVT]

Dola, found this clip from Gen Franks press conference today:


BBC Reporter: General, we've been hearing reports that Marines in the field have not been getting their rations. Is this an indication that the coalition supply lines are in danger?

Gen. Franks: Not at all, Bobby. The fact is there are plenty of rations available for our troops. Most of them are just so busy filling out the prayer pledges to send to the President that they have neglected to eat.


Well, I guess that shows that this really is affecting our troops' performance. I guess you're right - Bush really does need to put a stop to this.

[Easy Mac]

Sunday's is "Pray that the President and his advisers will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding".

This should be the quote of chioce for all anti-war protesters.

[astralhaze]

Ahhhhhhh....that's good stuff.

[ISiddiqui]

What? I pray for Bush everynight. Only my SO sometimes denies me :(.

[tucker342]

that's so lame. Why should the soldiers be praying for Bush? I don't get it.:rolleyes:

[Easy Mac]

Originally posted by ISiddiqui
What? I pray for Bush everynight. Only my SO sometimes denies me :(.

Hmmm, I pray for no bush every night, and my SO says sure... mmmmm shavealicious.

[mrskippy]

Because you guys aren't Christians you won't understand.

Anyway, all of the forces have chaplains in field. One of the news magazines had a picture of one soldier being baptized in a makeshift baptismal in the middle of the desert.

The Bible commands Christians to pray. Romans 13 also has some interesting commandments. It's biblical for Christians to pray for their leaders. And in this case they are not only praying for their President ... but their Commander In Chief, their boss.

Churches commonly put out prayer pledge cards with simple things that might relate to a specific flock. And a prayer calendar also is common.

Prayer is a very powerful thing to Christians. Very powerful.

My guess is that this was the doing of the chaplains.

It should be noted that people in the military are required to specify their relgion -- even if they specify no relgion or atheist. But I know people who have put in Christian, Jew or Muslim -- just to ensure some type of proper, respectful burial. And that's the only reason the question is asked.

Every military base I've been to has a chapel on it. And almost every base has church services for all faiths. And I'm sure in the field, these things continue.

[mrskippy]

Dola ... FYI the chaplain's tent is typically right next to the medical tent/field hospital.

[JPhillips]

My problem with this isn't prayer, but the fact that they want the marines to mail reciepts to the President that show how right he is. I don't have any problem with prayer or military chaplains or prayer books for that matter. What bothers me is the way this group is using prayer not just to appeal to the Lord for security and wisdom, but to lso show that Bush is a great leader. That's over the line. My God at least isn't concerned with politics.

[mrskippy]

Than again, the overwhelming majority of military voters are Republican. :D

I do find the card idea a little cheesy. I doubt it was a White House idea, but the idea of the chaplains. I'm sure it is a lot less politcal, than it is to show Bush that prayer works both ways. More than likely some overzealous chaplains who want to show the power of prayer.

Of course, back in high school my church made us send prayer cards like this to teh pastor. He signed, laminated, and mailed them off with a personal letter. Cheesy, but there is precedence.

[mrskippy]

BTW ... Link!!!

[digamma]

I would be VERY surprised if this were the idea of the chaplains. I would be even more surprised if anyone in the White House had anything to do with it.

Instead, the In Touch ministries, which I found on a google search and is at www.intouch.org, probably sent over cases of these pamphlets as care packages and the marines are able to pick them up at their leisure.

[mrskippy]

Originally posted by digamma
Instead, the In Touch ministries, which I found on a google search and is at www.intouch.org, probably sent over cases of these pamphlets as care packages and the marines are able to pick them up at their leisure.

That makes sense. And if they aren't being forced or asked and this was indeed voluntary, that's great. Just goes to show you that it's not uncommon for troops to be quite spirtual, not necessarily Christian people.

[stkelly52]

I would guess that Intouch sent them to the chaplains, and they have since had them freely available for all of the soldiers. I lknow when I was in the USAF there were all kinds of religious stuff from various ministires available through the chapel. As for the cards to send in, it really seems like a non-issue to me. Do your really think that it is going to make any kind of political statment for Bush to be receiving these? I don't think so. His office gets letters for and against him every day. As best I can tell these are neiter for or against him, just people who say that they are praying that God will give him wisdom and guidance. I have no problem with that.

[mrskippy]

BTW ... the brochure isn't just for the military. It's publically available from InTouch Ministries and is designed for all Christians.

Prayer Cards (http://www.itmimg.org/images/duty_brochure2.pdf)

[mrskippy]

Also most Christian ministries endorse praying for the President. And many more support it for Bush, who is himself an evangelical Christian. Many ministries even list prayer ideas on their Web sites.

I think this is truly a non-issue and probably quite common. As stkelly52 said ... they get this stuff all the time.

[GrantDawg]

I just preached yesterday about the need to pray for the President. I also said to pray for the military, the Iraqi people, the people of the surrounding area, and even the Iraqi military and Saddam Hussien. I taught that as Christians we should pray for peace and for the protection of the people there.

[JPhillips]

Again, I don't have any problem with praying for the president, but this goes beyond that. What possible purpose is their to mailing the receipt back to the White House? I can only see two possibilities.

1 Its a way for In-Touch to get political points with the admin. This will show that they are working hard to get the troops to show strong support for the president.

2 They really want to have a list of who is praying and who may not be.

I am also disturbed by the "regardless of his critics" part. That's also a very political statement. If you believe in prayer, and if you believe that God sees our cause as just, this prayer request logically leads to believing that Bush is doing God's will. I don't want the president seen as a divine ruler. That hubris can only lead to a bad place. I will pray for wisdom for our leaders, but I won't ask God to help him ignore his critics. I hope God gives Bush the wisdom to listen to his critics instead of dismissing them offhand.

Oh, and I know Bush had nothing to do with this, but he could have it stopped with one phone call. I'm not against any sort of prayer or prayer book, but leave your damn politics out of it. Our marines shouldn't be worried about sending in "attaboys" to the president. I say, render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's and render unto God what is God's.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by ISiddiqui
What? I pray for Bush everynight. Only my SO sometimes denies me :(.

along these lines I am sure that most men over there (and a few of the women) pray for bush frequently. Poor bastards can't even have porn mailed to them.

[Aylmar]

Originally posted by JPhillips
I am also disturbed by the "regardless of his critics" part. That's also a very political statement. If you believe in prayer, and if you believe that God sees our cause as just, this prayer request logically leads to believing that Bush is doing God's will. I don't want the president seen as a divine ruler. That hubris can only lead to a bad place. I will pray for wisdom for our leaders, but I won't ask God to help him ignore his critics. I hope God gives Bush the wisdom to listen to his critics instead of dismissing them offhand.

I don't think that it's a political statement at all. I read it as a prayer for the President and his advisors to be strong in the face of adversity and do what is right. No matter what decision is made (especially at his level of office), there will always be critics stating that it's the wrong one. At some point, you have to make a decision (hopefully based on what you feel is right) and go with it, regardless of what people say. That, to me, is what they're asking God to help Bush have the strength to do....not to "ignore his critics".

I also don't understand the logical connection between prayer, a just cause, and being a divine ruler. They're asking God to help the President, not speak through him.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Non-story. Common military practice for operations. Chaplains serve the role of counselors not preachers, they also perform last rites if needed.

This isn't a video game, not only do soldiers die but soldiers kill. It does not matter what faith or lack thereof, killing takes its toll. The chaplain's role is to help the soldier cope with with this on the soldier's own terms.

The pamphlets were part of a private organization's care package, they were not sent by the government.

[MJ4H]

I am really bewildered here. I absolutely cant see why anyone would see this as anything but good. Do you not want the president to do what's right? regardless of what the critics say? I do. And I think the man that is making some of the most important decisions in human history could use some people praying that he makes the right ones. Dont you? I mean even if you dont believe in God whats the harm here?

[sabotai]

In my opinion, this is just a PR stunt by the Touch Ministries to get their name out there or something.

Or, this type of thing happens all the time and it's a slow newsday.

I doubt anyone in th emilitary or government have anything to do with it.

[ACStrider]

Say what you want about Intouch ministries, but I have the feeling that there is a lot of needless cynacism. As a Christian, I find it as a comfort and a blessing to receive notice from fellow Christians that they are praying for me. It is an encouragement because it is a reminder of our true reliance on God for guidance and support and that the Christian church (i.e. Christians, not just a building) is there to help us bear each other's burdens. I would think that the loneliest office in the world is the President of the United States. Why not provide reassurance that he is in our prayers?

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by lynchjm24
God does not like the NBA.

Wait, he played in the NBA!!
https://store.theonion.com/uploads/christ_nba_tshirt.jpg

[sabotai]

"I would think that the loneliest office in the world is the President of the United States. "

Hey, that's a pretty good excuse for Clinton.

"Hey, I was loney. I needed attention." :D