This is the one hundred and ninety-fifth installment in The Sounds of Fundamentalism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section. Let’s have some fun!
Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a video clip of a prayer uttered by Pennsylvania Rep. Stephanie Borowicz before Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Muslim Representative from Philadelphia, was sworn into office. Borowicz’s husband, Jason, is an associate pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
The York Daily Record reports:
Now normally, the opening prayer is not a big deal, just some words intended to inspire our elected officials to grasp for the higher angels of their nature – which, considering the results, often doesn’t seem to take.
But Borowicz’s prayer was seen as being political, coming just moments after the House swore in its first Muslim member, Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Philadelphia Democrat who took the oath of office while resting her left hand on the Quran.
At one point, House Speaker Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican, reached over and touched Borowicz’s arm, cutting her off in mid-prayer.
The prayer, some representatives said, was divisive and was seemingly intended, as House Minority Whip Jordan Harris, a Philadelphia Democrat, said, to weaponize her religion and “intimidate, demean and degrade” Johnson-Harrell.
The ever reprehensible Franklin Graham defended this despicable and insulting display of evangelical Christian bigotry that was allowed at a government function. This is why religion and politics need to remain in separate realms.
It is unbelievable and truly disgusting that all these so called grown up adults can have faith in a bronze age mythical god and listen to such biased and bigoted rubbish while representing the common people, drawing a very good salary and benefits from tax payers in this most advanced scientific world of the 21st century.
Why do you think she’d want to be done?
Sexist degrading comment. Not necessary.
Didn’t Jesus saying somewhere about public prayer??
“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for. they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the. corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.”
Matt 6:5
I guess she forgot that verse
Oh yes, you are so right!
The good woman completely ignored that Jesus told everyone NOT to pray in public.
And in the next verse Her Lord Jesus tells her the RIGHT way to pray:
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father.” Matt 6:6
When her Jesus tells her not to pray in public so clearly, so straightforwardly and so unambiguously—how can she think she is not sinning by doing the opposite of what her God tells her?
Not to mention the Paulian rules against females leading a service or appearing without a hat…