Nebraska Pastor's State Senate Prayer Pushes Some Lawmakers' Buttons
by Mary Rettig
January 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Nebraska minister caused an uproar in the State Senate Tuesday when he delivered the morning prayer for that day's session. Pastor Tim Swartley of Elm Creek says he was asked by his senator, Jim Cudaback, to deliver the invocation which left several senators outraged."I did pray that God would forgive us for abortion," Swartley explains. "I prayed that God would forgive us for teaching our children the religion of evolution, which really does tell us [its version of] where we came from and why we're here and where we're going, just as the Bible does. It's a competing philosophy of life."
Rules have been established for those giving the Nebraska Senate's morning invocation, the Elm Creek pastor acknowledges -- rules that include not praying about what is on the day's agenda and not praying about political issues. He feels his prayer followed these directives.
"I look at abortion and evolution as primarily moral issues," Swartley says. "Politics, I think, is secondary; and whatever party you are, if you're going to support biblical values, I'm all for it. But I did not intend to support any political agenda."
The pastor adds that, although he feels bad about the turmoil, he believes he was led to pray as he did on Tuesday morning. He contends that his prayer, though strongly worded, was exactly what God wanted him to say.
Senator Ernie Chambers claims he was "enraged" by Swartley's prayer, although he says he makes a point not to be present during the legislative body's invocation. Since the incident, Chambers has renewed his calls to get rid of the morning prayer altogether.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
