Originally posted by LouisBooth
"that they may be seen of men."
Exactly, not all praying in public is for showing off seebs. That's your wrong assumption.
The book says don't pray for attention, it says nothing about not praying in public. Please actually read the passage.
"It is ridiculous to claim that the event is not based around being *seen* praying. "
Again, your wrong assumption.
"If it weren't, it could happen anywhere - it wouldn't need to be in one of the most public places available."
Is called symbolic. Why don't you write the guy that started the movement. I have already talked to him on a one on one level a long time ago. I doubt you have done the same.
What amuses me about this is that this is just like the homosexuality threads, only the other way around. I think it is *TOTALLY* obvious that this event violates both the letter and spirit of the law.
Once again, in simple words:
IF I DO A THING IN A PUBLIC PLACE THAT I COULD HAVE DONE IN A PRIVATE PLACE, I AM DOING IT TO BE SEEN.
There's no other meaningful interpretation. Saying that it isn't about being seen is ridiculous; it's *ALL* about being seen. It's about having a big obvious presence by the flagpole so people can say "gosh, there are a lot of Christians there". If being seen weren't important, it could be done anywhere - but it's done in *THE* most public place available.
It is not an "assumption" to state that, when people go out of their way to do a thing in a public place, that they are doing it to be seen; it's practically the definition of a public place!
You keep denying that people do this to be seen, but if you read posts and message board things about it, it's all about "good turnout" and "hope to see more people there". It's about a numeric presence in a public place.
Excuses can be made, but they are all nonsense; people do this to show something to other people. They meet at a time and place, not because time or place are special to God, but because other people will be there; that is *PRECISELY* what Christ condemned.
You, my friend, should read the passage. You've eroded it to nearly nothing by qualifying and quantifying and reading only part of it. It doesn't just condemn hypocrisy; it condemns public prayer, and says to pray in private. Not "some of the time". Not "except on holidays" or "except near flagpoles". *ALL OF THE TIME*.
Prayer is a private, personal thing with a *personal* God. It is not a public activity.
When Christ was traveling with only three of his disciples, He *left them* to pray *by Himself*. (Matthew 26) When he performed miracles, such as feeding the multitude, he did this, then *went off alone to pray*.
Should we not follow His example? Certainly, your interpretation could be extracted if we were to take the one passage out of context. However, when we look at Christ himself, we see unambiguously that He *NEVER ONCE* prayed in public. Not once. He prayed *ALONE*, just as He commanded us to pray.
There is the rhetoric which is used to justify SYATP events, and there are the things which are said off the record by the kids who go to them. I would take the latter as a much more accurate indication of the driving force behind attendance.
If you talk to the kids, it's pretty clear that they all know that, rhetoric and legal smokescreens aside, the sole purpose of a gathering in a public place is to have other people observe the gathering. Christ's explicit teachings and example were both quite different from this.
It's curious to see that our roles have changed; now I'm the one arguing that the Bible is totally clear in prohibiting something, and you're the one trying to justify it. Whee!
