Is It Okay To Pray For Harm To Come To Others? [POLL]
A Texas judge ruled last week that it is okay to pray for harm to come to others, as long as no one is actually threatened or harmed.
Is it okay to ask God to do harm to another person? The theology of such “imprecatory prayer” may be a matter of debate, but a Dallas judge has ruled it is legal, at least as long as no one is actually threatened or harmed, reported the Washington Post.
District Court Judge Martin Hoffman last week dismissed a lawsuit brought by Mikey Weinstein against a former Navy chaplain who he said used "curse" prayers like those in Psalm 109 to incite others to harm the Jewish agnostic and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and his family, reported USA Today.
The Judge said there was no evidence that the prayers by Gordon Klingenschmitt, who had been endorsed for the Navy chaplaincy by the Dallas-based Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches, were connected to threats made against Weinstein and his family or damage done to his property.
According to the lawsuit, Klingenschmitt posted a prayer on his website urging followers to pray for the downfall of Foundation.
"I praise God for religious freedom because the judge declared it's OK to pray imprecatory prayers and quote Psalm 109," Klingenschmitt said after the ruling, according to The Dallas Morning News. Psalm 109 calls for the death of an opponent and curses on his widow and children, among other things.
Weinstein, a former Air Force lawyer who started the foundation to battle what he sees as undue religious influence in the armed forces, said Friday that "a very aggressive appeal is highly likely."
He said he has received numerous death threats, had swastikas painted on his house, and that his windows have been shot out and animal carcasses left on his doorstep as a result of his activism, reported USA Today.
On today, one of the most religious days in Christianity, do you think it is okay to pray for harm to come to others?
Vote in our unscientific poll and please add your thoughts in the comment section below.
En Jay
8:01 am on Sunday, April 8, 2012
If the prayer is calling for harm upon others and it is spoken out loud -- then it's just like hate-speech.
If the prayer is unspoken, then it's a matter of whether that religion permits prayers of harm. "May God strike you down" was a frequent expression (that's why cartoons often have lightning hitting the bad guy), and still is in some parts of the world.
Brenda Crawshaw
8:11 am on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Why not pray for the other party to experience a spiritual paradigm shift and pray that they can be inspired to learn to use their powers for good instead of evil. Or pray that God has mercy on their misguided souls? Believe me, in my lifetime I have often questioned why an all-loving God would "allow" certain types of evil to exist. And yes there have been times I have prayed to God to intercede in whichever way s/he deems best. But to pray that more evil and suffering comes to descendents of that party makes me no different from them, right? And perhaps those instances of evil and suffering exist in order to allow the light to shine through....
Jim Rizoli
10:54 am on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Pray for what you want, if it comes true good for you.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Rizoli
4:21 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
We could use a lot of prayers for the upcoming budget 226 mill...
Here is a bill that is going to haunt us for a long time to come.
http://www.framinghamma.gov/weblink8/0/doc/20102/Electronic.aspx
See P.18 OPEB.....A small token of money being asked to be thrown at this bill.
1.5 million, when in actuality we should be putting 16 million.....
So the less money we put into the fund the more it's going to cost later.
The peanut gallery has been pretty quiet about this bombshell.
Where is the rabbit being pulled out of the hat on this one.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Joe Rizoli
5:32 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Actually, what Brenda says is right on the money, other than a "she" God part that she has questions about. I look at everything that happens as Gods will. It's how we react to it. Sometimes things happen to us to makes us stronger. Gold is refined by fire. So it is with us to the fire of opposition.
The Bible mentions how our lives and the paths we choose can be compared to being tested as if by fire from the purest gold to the most delicate combustible material. We have a choice what our foundation will be. See 1 Cor 3:11-15 1 Pet 1:7
As to praying for hurt to come upon someone I have found one example:
2 Kings 2:23, Elisha called down evil in the name of the Lord upon some bratty kids. They didn't have Facebook back then but they did have bully's.
Apparently this would be "hate speech" by Eds reckoning
People did do evil things that resulted in GOD through angelic direction, punishment to come upon someone though a few times I found.. Acts 12:23, Herod, Miriam, Num 12:10 Nabal 1 Sam 25:2. Sometimes God beats us to the punch, he knows when to step in before we even ask. 1 John 3:20
Easter sermon over
Joe Rizioli
Cynthia Turner
5:41 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
We *could* condone regulation on prayer (any kind of prayer)...and then we could move onto regulation of our thoughts as well. Your choice.
Jim Rizoli
6:09 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Cynthia......That already happens in this town.....LOL
Jim@ccfiile.com
Cynthia Turner
8:11 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Can we pay attention to the real question here? Based on the article at hand, the question of "is it okay?" implies in the legal sense. That *is* the point of the piece. If that's not what's being asked in the poll, then please don't create fluff polls to accompany a serious issue. Great to hear about people's moral standings and reasonings here and I personally do not think it's right to pray for harm, but this is about people in judicial power and governments legislating prayer. Let's get serioius here folks; *this* is serious.
Jim Rizoli
9:02 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Quite serious.....YIKES!
Jim@ccfiile.com
Joe Rizoli
10:01 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Where does one draw a line here? Is a PRINTED, written statement in religious writings that make blasphemous statements about Jesus, ( the Talmud ) or the Jews,
( the Koran ) come under this? What about the Witch Doctors that practice "Voodoo" curses, the religion, Santeria? You are dealing with RELIGIOUS PRACTICES which unfortunately how obscene or detestable are protected by freedom of religion in writ or speech. Now, IF the mode of the curse, the CAUSE of mayhem, death or harm, such as a gun or knife was used in the "curse" a person could come under great scrutiny by the police I would assume.
SO, Do You Believe It Is Okay To Pray To Harm Others?
No, I wouldn't do it. Why? Because God will take care of the situation. It's also called Karma.
Joe Rizoli
Ben Jackson
3:41 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Now this might shock people, but on the larger question, if not in the details, I agree with the Rizolis. Pray how you want. Don't harm anybody. I think it's reprehensible for one to pray for harm to come to another, but it's also not my business.