The story goes that Warren Buffet, rather worried about his investments early 2008, wanted to talk to God… God told him to use his phone and he’d send him the bill… He got and paid the $333 million dollar charge. His investments flourished, too… That would be the end of the story, except he was down in Sussex County recently, following up first hand on a corporate case being processed out of Georgetown… once again, he asked God for the right to call, and agreed to accept the charges… When he got his bill, he was fuming… He was only charged 25 cents… “God”, he said, “you ripped me off on that first call, big time!”… God said, “Warren, don’t you get it? In Sussex County, that’s a local call…”
Local call or not, Sussex County is weighing in on whether to say a prayer before County meetings or to not… Here are a few takes on that policy: one, two, three, four……
As someone who grew up where prayers were always said before football games and county meetings, it isn’t a big deal…… That is, as long as everyone agrees it isn’t a big deal. You don’t see prayers before meetings conducted in New York.
Not because New Yorkers are heathens, but because in New York, you have a multiplicity of religions, so praying a prayer from one of them, is a slap in the face for all others…
Why it’s even an issue in Sussex County is because the Positive Growth Alliance, has been building condo’s like ants, and lots of people who did not grow up in Sussex County, now live there. Many have different ideas of religion than those who’ve always been there all their lives…
If everyone believe in the same version of God as does David Anderson, then of course, duh, why are we even arguing about it… Of course we’re going to pray to God to guide us through this meeting.. That’s what He’s for!
Suddenly, thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance, we have tons of people who do object to having David Anderson’s version of God, one who dislikes Homosexuals, and one who casts pox on Democrats, one who believes married people should have sex only when they have children, one who believes sex between animals is immoral, one who believes taxes are caused by the devil, one who believes that nature was made to bulldoze and pave with a combination of petroleum and gravel. … one who believes that oil companies have the divine right to pollute oceans, one who believes that animals were made for us to kill. … one who believes a national religious holiday should fall on the first day of deer season.. one who believes pick up trucks and baseball caps are proof that homosexuality is a sin,… on who believes killing someone with a gun is not a sin, but taking that gun away for the safety of others is…
(yes, I’m having fun and talking tongue in cheek)…
The point I’m making is that Sussex County is changing; and it is changing mostly thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance.
Can you make new citizens join the current religion? If so, then by all means, just like the days of old, they will see no qualms in having a tiny prayer before the meeting.
But if they don’t want to join that religion, then, to force one group of religious people to impose their prayers on others, is not American…In fact, it’s kinda creepy…
If in an effort to show fairness, the Sussex County decided they would do prayers from all religions in alphabetical order, when they came to “B” and hit Buddahism, giving an Buddahist prayer before the session, most of those in the audience would be saying WTF! This is our nation, why do we have to listen to such crap…
Which is… exactly what those Buddahists think, who have opened a business in Millsboro, and have come before the county to ask for a variance on something or other that is in their antiqued code….
So… If it is unnatural for a Baptist to suffer a Buddahist prayer, it is equally unnatural for a Buddahist to sit through a Baptist prayer…
It’s not about one religion being right and the other wrong. It’s about who the citizens are that make up Sussex County. If you want to blame anyone over this controversy, the blame solely lies with those who built up Sussex County and brought in all these new people to begin with… Now that they are here, we have to make Sussex County as fair to them as New York, is fair to us, when we take our business up there……
Positive Growth, huh? Depends on your version of positive I guess………….
kavips 
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July 17, 2011 at 7:56 am
frankknotts
Kavips, since you reference three of my articles from Delaware Politics, let me set the record straight. I am a life time resident of the state of Delaware. Born in Kent County, and movedd to Sussex close to 25years ago. If your readers will read my last article on this issue, “How Far Right?” . They will see that I am a Christian and I am opposed to the council prayers based both on my understanding of the Bible and the Constitution. I’m not sure why you chose to attack David Anderson on this since I don’t believe that he has written anything on this topic. But your characterization that all who are in favor of the prayer or somehow religious fanatics is a bit unfair. Also to say that only faithless transits are opposed, is also not correct. Though I do admit I am of the minority oppinion on the right on this issue. Frank Knotts
July 17, 2011 at 12:08 pm
kavips
I actually referenced three of your articles because I was moved by reading them and thought they were good examples of balanced intellectualism, and worthy of being pushed onward.
I know you are a Christian. i also know that you are opposed to this prayer issue, based on both the Constitution and the Bible, and would encourage you to use our master’s admonition: “Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s; and to God what is God’s”. to show that Jesus, too, recognized separate boundaries between church and state… In my humble opinion God is too good to be sullied by the affairs of state, and for only that reason, should be left out of government’s day to day operations.
David Anderson is a good man.. I still do not see where he is attacked in this article; he’s just given a slight teasing elbow in the ribs, the kind that’s done between good friends who disagree on one matter or two, and of course, the exaggeration is part of the fun. .. lol. .(It has to have some fun in it.). Face it; if we blog, we share the same environment; we put our ideas into a public forum hoping to influence change for the better: We are not enemies, just delegates representing different views in some sort of convention. It’s a convention where people are amazing people, views are just views; there’s a huge difference.
From what I know of him, I think he’d agree with you that God is too good to be sullied by the daily grind of Sussex County politics, and that, to maintain God’s honor, the preliminary prayers should be dropped. Of course, David is in the GOP, and as a political party, they have stated their intransigent position to the contrary, so I can certainly understand his silence.
I do not see where I characterized those who support prayer in Sussex County meetings as blind fanatics. Otherwise, as implied inside my article, I would too have to consider myself one in my past, and that is something I can’t do. Likewise, neither are those opposed, … heartless heathens… If that was somehow coming across, I’ll apologize for the effect, even though it appears clear to me from my writing, that I went all-out to make sure any reference to such, was erased and not present or implied…
But people are different, and what may be friendly elbow teasing by me, may appear to the uninitiated, as something more virulent. .. i recognize that, but I’m just the kind of person who chooses to do it anyway then take the consequences, than be so circumspect of hurting other’s feelings, that I never say anything worthy at all…..
It’s just how God wants me to be.