Amen!!

I was wondering how long it would take but it is finally here!

Last summer there was a proposition brought up in Commissioners Court to ask the citizens of Milam County to pray for rain. This brought up a storm of resistance from several of the Democrat leaders in Milam County both in that session of the Commissioners Court and later in blogs and in the newspaper.

The Commissioners Court stood fast and they voted unanimously in favor of the proposition, Democrats and Republicans alike. Funny though, the Democrat Leadership in Milam County then had to explain why it would be easy for a rural Democrat to not stand up to this rather than just accept the fact that the Democrats on the Commissioners Court actually agreed with the proposition.

When that occurred I knew it would only be a matter of time before we would hear more on the subject of public prayer in Milam County and now the other shoe has dropped.

Late last week a group called “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” sent a letter to the Milam County Commissioners Court stating that a source had informed them that the Milam County Commissioners Court opened each meeting with……....Brace Yourself……...a Prayer!!

OH NO!! What we will ever do – A Prayer?

For those of you who do not know who this group is, they’re a group originally founded in 1947 to keep government money out of private religious schools. Since then they have found all sorts of issues to attack government on based on their concept of the separation of church and state.

But, back to the letter sent to Milam County; who might the source of the complaint be? Well according to the letter, the source was none other than……anonymous!! That’s right; the letter simply claims that this group had received a complaint. No name and no reference to who might have made a complaint; only that a complaint had been made.

I think I could name a couple of likely villains in this debacle but decorum keeps me from being so crude.

The letter goes on to cite various different court rulings that support this group's claims. I spent 10 minutes on Google and was able to find just as many that refute their arguments. But basically the letter said the prayers must stop referencing Christ or be more representative of the total population of the Milam County Community.

Well, since the prayers have been led by various religious leaders in the county, then I think the second part of their request has been abided by and therefore their complaint is null and void. As for the citizens of Milam County, if their reaction to the negativity shown by the Democrat leaders last summer is any indication, then I think they will stand behind the Commissioners Court and their practice of leading each session off with a prayer.

But until anonymous comes forward and speaks with the court about why they find this offensive, then who is to know what the court should do to remedy the situation. An anonymous source has an unknown reason for their complaint and therefore the Commissioners Court is left without a basis to make a determination as to how to rectify the situation to best meet the needs of the complainant.

So without a valid solution to this complainant’s problem, then I guess the Commissioners Court will have to continue on with business as usual.

One thing is for sure though; the Democrat leaders of Milam County have already shown via their public statements and written articles that they are against public prayer. So I guess we know where they stand on the issue. And I guess we also know one of the reasons so many of people are leaving the Milam County Democrats behind to run based on their values and beliefs as Republicans in Milam County!!

In God We Trust,
Bill

Amazing!!

As I arrived home this evening I was thinking about the County Commissioner’s meeting held Monday Morning. Due to my job I am not always available to attend these meetings; however, if I am unable to attend I usually get a complete run down on the proceedings from several sources. This Monday was one of those occasions and thankfully I got the rundown shortly after the meeting was over.

Prior to the meeting, Justice of the Peace Andy Isaacs had informed me that he was preparing a Proclamation asking Milam County residents to pray for rain to help end the drought conditions that have plagued Milam County as well as the rest of the State. We discussed the proclamation and its use in the state legislature and other counties. I am not always a great fan of symbolic gestures or unofficial business in public forums, but I thought this was a worthwhile effort if for no other reason than to possibly help lift the spirits of those most affected by the drought.

After the proclamation was presented and spoken up for by Andy Isaacs, past Democratic Chair and former Justice of the Peace Don Shuerman spoke up to challenge the Commissioner’s Court on the issue citing its constitutionality.

Of course the Proclamation did not establish a state religion nor did it favor one religion over another so therefore it was not unconstitutional, but that won’t stop those with an axe to grind with religion in public from tearing at a portion of the fabric of our society. I can already hear the Liberal Democrats claiming the “Separation of Church and State” argument; however, that is not even in the constitution and in actuality the very phraseology has its origins in Communist and Fascist writings – something else our liberal friends overlook.

The fact of the matter is that the proclamation is almost identical to the ones passed by the state legislature and by many other counties throughout the state. It is also symbolic and simply asks (or urges) the citizenry to pray according to their religious beliefs that we may soon receive some rain and begin to find our way out of this devastating drought. To some that may seem shallow or undeserving of the time and effort, but to those most affected by this drought these sorts of acknowledgements of their hardship is thankfully accepted.

It’s also important to point out that while the Local Democrats’ leadership seems to have an issue with this sort of proclamation for good hope; the elected Democrats do not as all four Democrats elected to the County Commissioner’s Court courageously stood for the values we hold dear in Milam County and voted with Judge Barkemeyer in support of this proclamation. So while the Democrat leadership in Milam County will no doubt take advantage of this situation to criticize Conservatives, Republicans, and the Tea Party members as overzealous religious nuts, it will be amazing if they even make mention of their own elected officials voting for the very concept they attack so vehemently.

I think I’ll say a little prayer for them also,
Bill