We have removed God from our ... wait, WTF?

[decayincl]

57. Interesting thread here

I started kindergarten in Iowa, in 1952. I don't remember reciting or being led in prayer. We did say the Pledge of Alligiance (with God included). That was it. Then we went on to learn about Evolution.

I attended church until late in High School when I turned slowly to Agnosticism, where I stayed for 30+ years before returning to church.

I started drinking just prior to turning 21. I was an instant drunk. After 15 years of that, I became an alcoholic and started going to meetings. Our AA meetings begin with the Serenity Prayer and ends with The Lords Prayer. Many if not most folks walking into their 1st AA meeting are Agnostic or Atheist. One of the symtoms of Alcoholism is thinking you are the center of the Universe.

While not a Christian at the time, I listened carefully to those prayers and recited them with the other AAs in the meetings. Those prayers helped me and others to focus on something outside ourselves, be it God, family, nature, whatever. God is mentioned often in AA literature and the 12 steps. For Agnostics and Atheists wanting only to get sober, these mentions and the spoken prayers serve simply to focus our thougthts on something outside ourselves and more important that ourselves.

I've been to hundreds of AA meetings and never heard one person suggest that we do away with the prayers and remove God from the literature.

In reading thru this thread, I began to think that perhaps we should return to at least a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day. Some non-religious inspiring statement or poem can be read to end the moment of silence. During the moment of silence, those who believe can start their day with a silent prayer. I guess I'm just trying to find a middle way, something that serves the same end as prayer without naming a God or any religion.

I don't want to open the flood gates to bring Huckabee's God back into the schools but I do value a time of centering ourselves on some thought outside of ourselves for a minute. If done correctly, I would think only the disciples of Ayn Rand would protest. If we sneak this moment of silence back into our schools, maybe we can get Darwin back in there too.