Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Praying for Victory in this Election

11/4/2008--I have been asked the following question: while the religious believer can pray for a good outcome today, what can the hallowed secularist pray for? This is my short answer:

Let's assume that you believe in the God of the Bible. What would you pray for in terms of this election? It would be blasphemy to pray that God intervene and give victory to your candidate. After all, you might be on the "wrong" side or there might not be a "right" side (see Lincoln: we don't hope God is on our side but that we are on God's side). So, if you are a believer, you can only pray that you have been true to God, or have tried to be true, and that God have compassion on flawed humanity so that we don't get what we deserve. I think the hallowed secularist prays in precisely this way, except substituting for "true to God," true to that which most unifies all reality and hopes for compassion for all (See the Sh'ma, God is one).

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