… So Help Me God
Front Page Jan 21, 2009
God: (noun English) the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
Christ: (noun English) Jesus of Nazareth, held by Christians to be the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the eventual coming of a Messiah.
Allah (noun Islamic) the Supreme Being; God.
Buddha: (noun Sanskrit) Indian religious leader: founder of Buddhism.
Yahweh: (noun Hebrew) a name of God, and commonly rendered as Jehovah.
Atheists and Agnostics have a real problem with the use of God in public places. Their claim is that God denotes religious beliefs; as related to Christianity. In all actuality, God is universal. Weeks prior to the Presidential Inauguration, a group of Atheists filed a lawsuit is filed with the U.S. District Court to prevent Barack Obama from ending his oath of office with “so help me God.” The argument is not associated with religious beliefs, but with “unauthorized alteration” of the Constitution. They said those words have no place in the Constitution. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton refused to grant an injunction preventing ending the presidential oath with the words “…so help me God.
Actually, were President Obama a Muslim, he would probably have just said “so help me God,” since to Muslims (and Christian Arabs) Allah is just the Arabic word for capital-g God; and as such, when speaking in English saying “God” is perfectly fine. The French Muslims can say “Dieu,” and even Persian Muslims will say “Khoda.” It’s all the same.
Although there are countless religions throughout the world, each different from the other, they all serve the same purpose, and their followers make a pledges for God’s help.
Faith leaders from various religions and denominations, men and women, who participated in the inauguration were:
Dr. Barry Black – Seventh Day Adventist
Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell – United Methodist
Bishop John Bryon Chane – Episcopal
Archbishop Demetrios – Greek Orthodox
Rabbi Jerome Epstein -Judaism
Bishop Francisco Gonzalez – Episcopal
Rev. Wesley Grandberg-Michaelson – Reformed Church
Pastor Cynthia Hale – Christ’s Church
Bishop T.D. Jakes – Nondenominational
Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori – Episcopal
Rev. Suzan Johnson-Cook – Nondenominational
Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, III – Episcopal
Rabbi Haskal Lookstein – Judiasm
Ingrid Mattson – Islamic Society of North America
Rev. Otis Moss – Baptist
Uma Mysorekar – Hindu
Bishop Gene Robinson* – Episcopal
Rabbi David Saperstein – Judaism
Rev. Andy Stanley – Community Church of Christ
Rev. Carol Wade – Episcopal
Rev. Jim Wallis – Sojourners
Rev. Rick Warren – Evangelical
Rev. Sharon E. Watkins – Disciples of Christ
Archbishop Donald Wuerl – Catholic
The private worship service the morning of the inauguration took place at St. John’s Episcopal Church with Bishop T.D. Jakes giving the homily (sermon), while the National Prayer Service took place at the National Cathedral (The Episcopal Church of America).
*The controversial openly gay Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.
© 2009 Sharon Moore Stenhouse – All Rights Reserved
