Last week, I was out to lunch with my brother and parents. We went to our favorite restaurant in town. When our food came, I carefully put my napkin in my lap and dug right in. I ate half of my BLT, snuck a few bites of my dad's halibut when he wasn't looking, and reprimanded my mother for not eating her vegetables. We had a few laughs then dropped the tip before leaving.
As I'm exiting the restaurant (we were seated near the back) I have no choice but to walk in between a few tables. That's when I saw a family of 4 or 5 about to have lunch. But as I look down to give the winced "excuse me" look, I noticed they weren't looking at me and probably didn't even know I was walking by because their eyes were closed, their heads were bowed, hands placed in that familiar position, and they were praying.
It caught me completely by surprise. Although my grandparents were religious and made me say a bedtime prayer when I spent the night, I had never seen them pray IN PULIC.
It made me wonder what other people were thinking.
Were they simply excercising their 1st amendment rights? Were other people offended? Is this considered a moral right or publicly inappropriete? Would you do this? Do you do this? Is this necessary?
With the incessant fights over religion and human rights, I personally thought it was kind of brave. We do not all belong to one religion or any religion for that matter. Were other people offended that this family brought their very personal opinion to a public dining room? Did others think it was a wonderful display of loyalty? Or did anyone simply not care?
So what do you think? Praying in public: a do or a don't?
