Rick Perry's prayer event & Matthew 6:5?

[sharptiger999]

Wasn’t Rick Perry’s media-attentive prayer event precisely against Matthew 6:5? Obviously, it looks like he tried to gain a conservative/evangelical base as he was announcing that he would run for President.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So where am I wrong here

 

[GloriousOrder]

You aren’t wrong. This is an example of what our Lord forbid us to do.

 

[DLG123]

What about the Pope praying at Wolrd Youth Day? The Priests praying on EWTN? Or Evangelical preachers on TV? How about praying while you are out to eat in public? Or you are about to take a test and you want to say a prayer? Are these forbidden? Since they are Prayers in Public?

Perry being a National figure and being a prayerful Christian I think sets a good example for the youth and for our hedonistic society. He did not announce that he was running for President there and only spoke and prayed for around 10 minutes I believe. I see no problem with what he did. He would already have the “conservative/evangelical” base being that he is a evangelical Christian.

Yes I am from the great state of Texas and also a conservative Catholic and I don’t agree with Perry on everything but I personally think he would make a good President.

Plus he went to Texas A&M which is the biggest Catholic attended University in Texas. 15,000+ Catholic Students, over 7000 of them attend Mass every Sunday and they have around 500 to 1000 on a daily basis. Not to shabby

 

[sharptiger999]

What about the Pope praying at Wolrd Youth Day? The Priests praying on EWTN? Or Evangelical preachers on TV? How about praying while you are out to eat in public? Or you are about to take a test and you want to say a prayer? Are these forbidden? Since they are Prayers in Public?

Well according to your bible which you believe, unless you want to cherry pick, this is deemed wrong by Matthew 6:5.

Perry being a National figure and being a prayerful Christian I think sets a good example for the youth and for our hedonistic society.
Yes I am from the great state of Texas and also a conservative Catholic and I don’t agree with Perry on everything but I personally think he would make a good President.

I suggest you study the differences between him and Ron Paul. Don’t listen to who the media support.

Plus he went to Texas A&M which is the biggest Catholic attended University in Texas. 15,000+ Catholic Students, over 7000 of them attend Mass every Sunday and they have around 500 to 1000 on a daily basis. Not to shabby

Please don’t vote for him based on this reason. That is exactly how Bush got elected. If you need emergency surgery would you rather have an experienced doctor who happens to be atheist or a non-doctor who happened to be your religion? It just so happens Ron Paul says he is a Christian (and doesn’t agree with abortion, catholic ftw), but these are not the merits that persuade me to vote for him. (That being said, I certainly don’t hold those against him).

 

[DLG123]

Well according to your bible which you believe, unless you want to cherry pick, this is deemed wrong by Matthew 6:5.

I suggest you study the differences between him and Ron Paul. Don’t listen to who the media support.

Please don’t vote for him based on this reason. That is exactly how Bush got elected. If you need emergency surgery would you rather have an experienced doctor who happens to be atheist or a non-doctor who happened to be your religion? It just so happens Ron Paul says he is a Christian (and doesn’t agree with abortion, catholic ftw), but these are not the merits that persuade me to vote for him. (That being said, I certainly don’t hold those against him).

The Scripture that is given and the example in the op are the equivalent of saying that all statues are the the same as having idols… its rediculous It is painting with BROAD strokes and thats not the meaning of the Gospel. The particular Scripture is talking about going out to pray infront of people so THEY will notice how “rightous” one is. If this is the case why did Christ teach us to pray the Our Father out amoungst the public. A group coming together to worship in public WILL include prayer. Someone should be excluded from praying because they are a public figure? Maybe you should go reveiw Ron Paul’s position on public prayer.

In regards to who I vote for and for that matter what you believe it matters not to me whether my neighbor worships 10 gods or no gods as long as he is not forcing me to convert nor trying to exterminate my faith.
My problem with Ron Paul is his foreign policy with regard to rogue countries like Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, and the list goes on and on. The argument that if we allow Iran to get a Nuke that there is nothing that would happen is absolutely crazy. Myproblem with Ron Paul is that he is an isolationist which unfortuanately is not a realistic mindset that one can have in this dangerous world. Financially he is absolutely correct 100% in my opinion. If I had my wish Ron Paul would be in charge of giving the FED a conlonoscopy like they cant even imagine.

Now I reject the premise of your question where if I have to have surgery the only choice I have is an atheist doctor and a religous non-doctor? That absurd… any retional person can answer that. Now if I have to choose between a atheist doctor and a Catholic doctor I, personally, am going to choose the Catholic doctor with all things being equal.

Furthermore I have worked with a atheist doctor who recomended that I terminate the life of my son after he suffered a tragic brain injury. He told me that “He will never have a meaningful life. Go pray to whoever you pray to and do the right thing and pull the plug.” Now I know not all atheist doctors are this way but this particular one left a bad taste in my mouth.

Peace be with you,
DLG

By the way I caught the snarky way you opened your commentary and you are forgiven

 

[exnihilo]

This surely cant mean to pray only in private. There are many reasons for this but the chief being that Jesus prayer in public. Jesus was no hypocrite. But there were people who made a big deal of their public praying and that is what Jesus is saying not to be like. The admonition is for true believers to not be like the hypocrites.

As to Rick Perry who can truly know. But I would think one would be particularly wary of any politician who makes a big deal out of their faith. There are a lot of politicians, probably most, who proclaim a deep faith in Christ that in no way act as if that is the case. My biggest grievance is that the church does not sufficiently publicly admonish politicians when they govern in ways not in keeping with Christian principles.