Hartford Council substitutes moment of silence for prayer to Allah
Muslims are upset because the Hartford, Connecticut City Council opted for a moment of silence, rather than a prayer to Allah led by an imam, to open Monday's meeting.
Sorry, Muslims. This time you're wrong; I don't blame the Council one bit. I am not crazy about prayer at civic functions in any event for the very reason why the councilpersons weren't comfortable with it in this instance: it must of necessity either be a generic prayer to a generic deity, or a prayer to a specific deity worshipped according to assumptions and beliefs not necessarily shared by those called upon to participate. Either constitutes idolatry.
Since my God is not Allah, but the Holy Trinity, and since the two are not the same, I, for one, could not in conscience participate in such a prayer. Evidentally the Christians- and perhaps Jews- on the City Council also understood that neither the generic god of the American Civil Religion nor the god of the Koran can be addressed in prayer without worshipping a deity other than the one in which they believe, and thus becoming guilty of hypocrisy or worse.
Sorry, Muslims. This time you're wrong; I don't blame the Council one bit. I am not crazy about prayer at civic functions in any event for the very reason why the councilpersons weren't comfortable with it in this instance: it must of necessity either be a generic prayer to a generic deity, or a prayer to a specific deity worshipped according to assumptions and beliefs not necessarily shared by those called upon to participate. Either constitutes idolatry.
Since my God is not Allah, but the Holy Trinity, and since the two are not the same, I, for one, could not in conscience participate in such a prayer. Evidentally the Christians- and perhaps Jews- on the City Council also understood that neither the generic god of the American Civil Religion nor the god of the Koran can be addressed in prayer without worshipping a deity other than the one in which they believe, and thus becoming guilty of hypocrisy or worse.
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