Prayer Booths At A Public Beach???

I got a message from Tobin this morning with an article from the Falmouth Enterprise noting that the Town Council in Falmouth has approved "Prayer Booths" at a public beach on Falmouth. Prayer Booths! Have you ever heard anything so patently absurd in your life? (Well yeah, but it was a literary device after all.)

These religious groups are using the same old bullshit that they always use. Mr. Washburn, one of the permit applicants said "We all feel the burden to pray for our people". Well, uh, no we don't. I am relieving you of that burden. Mr. Washburn. You needn't pray for me. He also said "the premise of the First Amendment is not freedom from religion, but freedom of religion. He explained that the goal of this piece of the US Constitution is that government should not become involved in church affairs. That is not what the Constitution means. It means that you have the right to "have" religion or not. And the Town of Falmouth permitting these people to take a nice day at the public beach and turn it into a prayer meeting is just plain wrong.

Tobin remarked about the carnival atmosphere that these booths might have. I wrote this back to him:

Hur-ray! Hur-ray! Step right up! Get your red hot plenary indulgences here! Plenary indulgences 2 for $10! Cape Cod baptisms... Go to God with a statue of Jesus in one hand and a model of Nobsca Point Light in another. Step right up! Afraid of the water? We’ve got rubber rings with Saint Peter’s head on the front to protect you! We’ve got Pope Benedict squirt guns... “Let Us Spray”! Hur-ray Hur-ray!

Ludicrous!