8 Responses to “What did you think of those inaugural prayers?”

1. Sophia Katt Says:
   January 20th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

   If Rev. Warren could only behave in daily life in the fashion that he prays for during Inaugural Day, we could all rest a little easier.

2. José Says:
   January 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am

   We say the Lord’s Prayer in our church nearly every Sunday. It’s perfectly well suited for a Christian worship service. But for a civic ceremony, especially one where the host took pains to include Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and even non-believers, Warren’s prayer sent a strong and clear message that our citizens consist of two types, Christians and Others. I’m not clear on the actual purpose of an invocation, but Warren’s address did not seem to satisfy it.

   As for Lowery, I was amused and impressed that he encouraged so many people to join in the shouted responses of “Amen!” Audience participation fits well with President Obama’s themes of unity and shared responsibility.

3. peach Says:
   January 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 am

   On Rev. Lowery’s Benediction: was part of prayer considered plagiarism since he did not credit Bill Bloozy with writing the song? Just wondering

4. José Says:
   January 22nd, 2009 at 7:46 am

   If preachers and politicians were vigorously prosecuted for plagiarism our jails would be overflowing.

5. Caleb Powers Says:
   January 22nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

   The rule appears to be that only Joe Biden can be gigged for plagiarism; everyone else seems able to get away with it.

6. UKLutheran Says:
   January 22nd, 2009 at 8:07 pm

   It’s not considered plagiarism… I mean, it was a prayer! Not a term paper!

   Directly speaking to the divine… not a time to add a citation…. Plus, he was open about (and the press reported) the source of the words.

   Plagerism and the pulpit are touchy subjects, but part of the problem is a misunderstanding of what constitutes “plagerism” in spoken worship leadership. Ripping off someone’s sermon is clearly out of line, but borrowing words happens all the time. The best practice is to reveal your sources, which Rev. Lowery did.

7. peach Says:
   January 23rd, 2009 at 6:13 am

   This is a section from Bill Broonzy’s song:

   people, you know that it’s true
   If you’re black and gotta work for livin’,
   now, this is what they will say to you,

   they says, “If you was white, you’d be alright,
   if you was brown, stick around,
   but if you’re black, oh, brother, get back, get back, get back”

   I read it a second time and the Rev changed the wording from If you was white, you’d be alright to: “Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around — (laughter) — when yellow will be mellow — (laughter) — when the red man can get ahead, man — (laughter) — and when white will embrace what is right.”

   These prayers at this ‘historical-momentus’ Inaugration are going to be written on the books also. Which I think credit should be given where credit is due, even in speeches. One has to wonder what Obama’s grandmother would have thought of the prayer, each night when she embraced Barack for a kiss goodnight before tucking him into bed.

8. Caleb Powers Says:
   January 23rd, 2009 at 4:52 pm

   Prayers may be prayers, but they’re speaches, too. Otherwise, they’d be prayed silently like the Bible recommends. If we’re going to go down the road of praying publicly as the Pharisees did, we should at least try to avoid overt plagiarism. There’s nothing wrong with praying a prayer that says, “as thy servant Big Bill Broonzy sang many years ago . . . ” and the like. I’ve heard ministers quote scripture in prayers, and allude to all manner of things said by others. Usually, what they’re quoting is so obvious that attribution is not necessary, but when one gets to old blues lyrics, even God might appreciate a footnote, if only to see what song to go listen to. And, it doesn’t have to be in the prayer itself. One could provide a handout with the lyrics and attribution on it, with a note that the lyrics were quoted in the prayer. Of course, I’m in favor of anything that increases the popularity of blues music. Frank asked the question earlier what the new administration could do for the non-religious: A primer on good blues music, even in the form of a prayer, wouldn’t hurt.

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