Posted on 06/01/2008 7:10:30 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
DEARBORN, Mich. — Elias Al-Karim says he’s always gotten along well with his neighbors, who are evangelical Christians. But he was angered recently to learn that they had added his name, and the names of his wife and children, to Community Faith Center’s corporate prayer list. Elias called the church to complain.
"We do not want prayer from Christians, and we did not ask for it," he told a reporter. "It’s a violation to pray for someone without their knowledge or consent."
To ease tensions, the church did what many churches and ministries are increasingly doing: started a "do not pray" list. The list grew rapidly after Al-Karim alerted the local newspaper about his experience. Hundreds of Muslims, atheists, Mormons and even pagans called to have their names added to the list. Now when prayer requests come in to the church, names are checked against the list before they receive prayer.
"We have to respect people’s wishes," says the pastor. "If they really don’t want prayer, we honor that."
But many church members disagree.
"I can pray for whoever I want," says one member of the church who has started an underground prayer list and circulates it by email. "The reason they don’t want prayer is their minds are blinded. And that’s what I’m praying against."
Sharon Grumman, a self-described "blue-state liberal freakazoid" says she was furious to learn that a co-worker had put her name on Peace Lutheran’s prayer list in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"Who gave them permission to practice their religious voodoo on me and my children?" says the single mother. "I consider it spiritual harassment, even if I do think prayer is bogus."
Others feel the same way. A devout Hindu shoe store owner in Cincinnati believes the prayers of a local church have hindered him from gathering great wealth.
"If I’m praying to my gods and the Christians are praying to theirs, the prayers cancel out," he says with evident frustration. He believes the church should reimburse him for lost revenue and has added his name to every do-not-pray list in the country. He believes a group of "zealous Baptist peoples" put his name on the lists in hopes of converting his family.
"I heard they were also praying for the country of India," he says. "My relatives live there, so I’m asking that they stop that as well."
Intercessors at churches with do-not-call lists say the policy impedes the spontaneity and flow of normal prayer.
"Instead of lifting people up to God, you have to do this bureaucratic thing right in the middle and search for their name on the list," says one prayer ministry leader. "It takes the oomph out of it."
Some angry people are calling for a national 1-800-NO-PRAYER line, akin to the "Do not call" line, to create a master list of people who want to be shielded from Christian prayer. But for now all efforts are local.
"It gives me great satisfaction to know that we are no longer being targeted," says Elias.
Lark News is too darn good sometimes.
Yeah, sure, Elias is being ignored - by some. I’m going to add him to my personal “He can go to He**” list.
Hmmm.
I'll sit here and enjoy the pandemonium...
;-)
Lark News, for those who don’t know is a satire site...mods, this may be best in the humor aisle. :)
so lemme understand - the some LDS want off eangelical prayer lists while practicing proxy baptism for my dead grandparents
Yeah, it’s funny now...but you know it’s gonna happen for real someday...
Eh, wouldn’t this be similar to “don’t you ever dare to gossip about me!”?
wow! So if they have relatives in America, can they add America to the list too?
Just WOW! LOL! some folks are a tad loose in the noggin.
I will be praying for everyone on the DON'T PRAY FOR ME list.
Can't wait to hear how those kids turn out. They're gonna need prayers and a whole lot more.
Better to read the posts that don’t know its satire, it makes me laugh even more than the actual article.
I wonder how they’ll feel about the Book of Life.
A violation of what I wonder.
What an idiot. Those who object to LDS prayers are idiots too. Look, if their religion is correct, and yours is wrong, then you will be happy later that you were prayed for. If theres is incorrect, and yours is correct, then their prayers are meaningless and there is no harm.
Basically, they are giving you a free call option. It is dumb not to take it, no matter how far out of the money it is.
Don't they know that a lack of wealth is caused by Global Warming.
I can’t even tell if this is supposed to be satire.
This is drooling insanity. Harrassment? What kind of world do we live in that this foolishness can be reported with a straight face? A local neo-heathen group should pray to Cthulhu that these dolts fall off the planet.
No, the really funny thing was the follow up email I had to send to the rest of the Elder Board and the Pastor saying "disregard last email, no need to add this yet to the Emergent Church warning signs, this was satire and I was duped,"
ROFLOL
That's as good as ordering a diet soda with a hamburger to cancel the calories out.
Gotta love Lark News.
ha!
I resemble that remark!
;-)
Reading this thread is getting even funnier.
Who said the person who didn’t want Christians praying for him was LDS?
My mom did that back in the 70's when we took a vacation out west. We stopped to eat somewhere in Wyoming or Montana, mom orders a 1/2 lb mozz cheeseburger, cottage fries, large bowl of chili, and a side salad. Waitress says, "Mam, anything to drink?" And without missing a beat mom says, "Well, a Diet Coke of course."
Laughed so hard I had to go to the bathroom.
Hmmm...what are Hindu shoes?
I’m thinking something comfy...maybe a soft slipper...curly toes and maybe a tinkly bell tassel...just spit-ballin’ here...
"Who gave them permission to practice their religious voodoo on me and my children?" says the single mother. "I consider it spiritual harassment, even if I do think prayer is bogus."
Lefties are such stable people...
Ping.
Seriously...This is not real??? It sounds JUST like them!!!
I think it’s a little mean-spirited to get well-intentioned Christians all worked up.
I went to the website for Lark and it seems as if the whole thing is a mockery of evangelicals.
You hooked some live ones tonight.
We need to have a [JOKE] heading.
Thank you for the laugh. I always thought it was funny when I’d read a response from someone who didn’t read the entire article, therefore missing the entire point. I never knew it was this much funnier when people don’t read the comments before they respond!
Live ones...LOL...how about ‘fish in a barrel?’
I tried that once - and if you follow the link, you'll see it didn't go over well.
If well intentioned Christians get worked up so easily they need to slow down and start thinking things over more often.
Southern Baptists launch pre-emptive strikes against Assemblies of God
OK, everybody, let's pray for this goof.
On the Lark News website, I saw a headline "Suspended homeschooled kid spends 3 days in backyard tent."
I also think that maybe some posters on this thread shouldn't be so quick to call others idiots or goofs :)
This is frerepublic. It’s an activist website created largely for the purpose of getting well-meaning people worked up. Perhaps you’re unfamiliar.
Further, if a website was created solely for the purpose of mocking, say, the Jewish faith, I don’t think it would be tolerated. But mocking Christians on a daily basis, as Lark.com does, is apparently OK. It’s not even that funny.
***But mocking Christians on a daily basis, as Lark.com does, is apparently OK. It’s not even that funny.***
I am a Christian and I think it’s a hoot. Part of the problem is that as Christians we tend to go off half-cocked and do things that aren’t totally Biblical.
Lark News, The Holy Observer and a few other sites poke fun at us where it is needed.
There’s simply no cure for dumbass.
” My Dogma got run over by my Karma...”
8th sentence of the article - read it......its friggin satire, relax
What nonsense. You can’t prevent someone from praying for you, at least not privately. I can understand it somewhat if they don’t want public prayer, but there ain’t nobody gonna prevent me from praying for another person, especially if God puts that person on my heart.
That's what makes it great satire. Given the sad state of much of the Church today, one could picture a plugged in pastor setting up a 'do not pray' list in order to be 'seeker sensitive'.
I would pray for you “Elias Al-Karim”, everyday, and I would keep on praying the more you asked me not to.
Sharon Grumman, a self-described "blue-state liberal freakazoid" says she was furious to learn that a co-worker had put her name on Peace Lutheran’s prayer list in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"Who gave them permission to practice their religious voodoo on me and my children?" says the single mother. "I consider it spiritual harassment, even if I do think prayer is bogus."
I know this is satire, but so many people actually feel this way!
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