Fascist pigs say people who pray must starve.
SEYMOUR, Indiana (PNN) - March 27, 2012 - Food pantry volunteer Shirley Sears patiently walks a young woman through a series of questions on an application for emergency assistance. After they complete the form, Sears tells the woman she has one more question.
"Is there anything," Sears asks, "that you would like us to pray with you about?"
Yes, the woman replies without hesitation. Reaching across the small desk that separates them, Sears grasps the woman's hands and begins to pray.
That scene has been repeated thousands of times over the past 15 years inside this small, southern Indiana food pantry operated by non-profit Community Provisions of Jackson County. This month, the practice was found to be against federal policy, leaving the pantry's founder with a Solomon-like choice: Stop the prayers or give up truckloads of free food provided through the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program.
Paul Brock, who started the faith-based pantry in 1997, refused to order his volunteers to quit asking recipients whether they wanted to pray. The federal food was suspended while the sides discussed a compromise.
Prayer in public settings remains a hot topic of debate nationwide. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed a bill into law Friday that allows school boards to permit student-initiated "inspirational messages" at public school assemblies - which critics see as allowing prayer. Last month, an issue arose in New York City over whether churches should be permitted to hold services in public school buildings. For now, an appeals court has ruled the churches can stay while the matter is sorted out in court.
"These kind of cases are popping up in a lot of places around the country," said Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. "People can be overly sensitive on both sides."
Cromartie erroneously claimed it is not a matter of stifling religious speech, but rather following the constitutional mandate of separation of church and state rules that come along with receiving and administering government assistance.
There is no portion of the Constitution that requires separation of church and state; there only exists an Amendment prohibiting government from establishing or prohibiting a particular religion.
