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Quebec plans to outlaw public prayer to “strengthen secularism” · The Daily Article

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Good day, and welcome to Denison Forum's Daily Article Clubcast.
• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's Labor Day September the first, two thousand twenty-five.
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's Daily Article, authored by our CEO, Dr. Jim Denison.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to the Canadian news outlet, the Globe and Bale, the government of Quebec is planning to ban prayer as part of a move to strengthen secularism in the province, in quote.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: who said he did not want to see people praying in public parks or on streets.
• 0:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Last Thursday, the province's secularism minister, yes, that oxymoronic office is real, confirmed he would advance the legislation this fall.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: The move comes in response to tensions in Quebec over Muslim prayers as part of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: However, as a Catholic bishop warned,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It would apply equally to all religions.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Another Quebec public leader called all public prayers and appropriation of public space by religious fundamentalists, illustrating the Catholic leaders concern.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you live in America, you might be thinking that you're glad you do.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But consider a post on X by Jen Psaki, MSNBC host and former White House press secretary in response to the horrific church shooting in Minneapolis last week.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, prayer is not freaking enough.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Prayers does not end school shooting.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer does not bring these kids back.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Enough with the thoughts and prayers.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: In Quote.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: She is already on record for opposing House Speaker Mike Johnson Republican of Louisiana for being basically a Christian fundamentalist because he stated that he has a biblical worldview.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: When the annunciation Catholic Church was attacked last Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded, don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: These kids were literally praying.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: He later called for a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons in response.
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today is the earliest Labor Day can be.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The US Department of Labor calls today's holiday an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: The closest thing to a similar holiday focusing on public prayer is Thanksgiving, which became a formal national holiday when President Lincoln proclaimed it so in eighteen sixty three as a day for national Thanksgiving praise and prayer.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: amid the horrors of the Civil War, Mr. Lincoln encouraged Americans to use the holiday to pray for God to, quote, lead the whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the divine will, back to the enjoyment of union and fraternal peace, in quote.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Presidents continue to issue Thanksgiving proclamations on an annual basis.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Congress enshrined the holiday in federal law in nineteen forty one.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Today, of course, Thanksgiving is about football and food, not repentance and submission to God's will.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: And therein lies my point today.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Those who criticize offering thoughts and prayers in response to tragedy presumably believe praying to an omnipotent God has no practical value or they would not oppose the practice.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: They often call for more, quote, practical responses
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: advocating for gun legislation, mental health reform, and similar measures.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some even believe public prayer to do public harm as illustrated by the news from Quebec.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: As western culture becomes increasingly secularized, such sentiments are unsurprising.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the devolution of Thanksgiving illustrates, Americans are nothing if not pragmatic.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is far more money and entertainment value to be found in football and food than in repentance and prayer services.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Words address to a deity who didn't prevent the tragedy about which we are praying are obviously less than practical in the views of skeptics.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Since I assume you are not among them, I won't respond with an apologetic for God's existence and character or the value of prayer.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nor will I can see the zero-sum argument that we should be acting rather than praying.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You and I know that prayer is in no sense a substitute for practical actions and often strengthens such responses.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew DeBore, the principal of a nunsiation Catholic school, said after the shooting, quote, please pray, but don't stop with your words.
• 4:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's make a difference and support this community, these children, these families, these teachers.
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Never again, can we let this happen?
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: As James made clear in James I versus twenty-two through twenty-seven, genuine faith leads to genuine action.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, opponents of thoughts and prayers do point to an issue we need to consider.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Such prayers are offered because a tragedy has occurred.
• 5:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are praying not to prevent disaster, but in response to it.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: As Jen Psaki wrote, prayer does not bring these kids back.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: And it can be hard to trust God for his help with suffering.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: He could have prevented, but did not.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: If your doctor could have kept your malignancy from metastasizing, you likely would have looked for another doctor to treat your disease.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: If your lawyer could have prevented your guilty verdict, you would probably seek another attorney to handle your appeal.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But God is not a doctor or a lawyer, and trusting him even when he disappoints us can be the path to our most empowering and redemptive experience of his grace.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: David wrote Psalm sixty-nine at a time when he had from verses one and two come into deep waters of opposition and persecution.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had been praying for help, but God had not responded as recorded in verse three.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even worse, he was being persecuted but cause of his faith when he wrote in verse seven, it is for your sake that I have born reproach that dishonor has covered my face.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Did he then turn from God in anger?
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Did he give up praying, since God had not answered, and his very prayers were a cause of his persecution?
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  [SPEAKER_00]: The opposite, in fact, recorded in verse thirteen.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: As for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: David knew that it is always too soon to give up on God when completing verse thirteen at an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me in your saving faithfulness.
• 6:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: In response to God's response, David said in verse thirty, I will praise the name of God with a song.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: He knew that from verse thirty one, this will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It is one thing to trust God because of our circumstances, those times when He has blessed us and all as well.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It is another to trust Him despite our circumstances.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Such faith shows that we believe what Scripture says about Him, even though our experiences seem to contradict His Word.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It shows that we love Him when He disappoints us just as He loves us when we disappoint Him.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It shows a skeptical world that our faith is real and relevant in the hardest days of life.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: And since God honors our free will, such faith positions us to experience His grace in ways we could not otherwise.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Missionary Jim Eliot's declaration is therefore both biblical and logical, quote, God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: With you experience your father's best today,