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• Lodi pursuing stimulus money to pay for green programs

• Lodi police, fire get new computer system

• Galt High graduate Brittany Lampson to continue cheerleading at University of California, Santa Barbara

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (31)

ADVERTISEMENT

Silence, confusion or heritage — what's best?

The prayer of invocation at the City Council meeting is now under fire.

Prayer, by definition, is communication with God. Those who pray are not talking to people or seeking man's approval of their words, but are talking to God. An invocation that is pre-approved by the City Council or is selected from a standard list of approved prayers is ridiculous.

Some have suggested a moment of silence before the meetings. In this way, people can pray to Jesus, Allah, Shiva, the great cosmic force in the universe or Great Aunt Ethel.

Maybe I'm wrong, but a moment of silence seems like an inoffensive, politically correct exercise to keep everybody happy. Government bodies that use this are trying to ease their consciences by invoking help from someone (whoever he/she/it is) to get them out of the messes they find themselves in.

The News-Sentinel, in its editorial, made the flawed suggestion of having individuals from different faiths take turns giving the invocation. As one who has studied world religions, I can say with certainty that they have very little in common theologically. The definitions of God, salvation, heaven, sin, etc., are very different.

The popular statements: "We all believe in the same deity but have different names for him," and, "There are different roads on the mountain, but they all lead to the same place," are intellectual suicide. These statements sound good and make people feel warm and cozy, but they are just not true. Having various faiths praying is an exercise in confusion.

America was founded on Christian principles found in the Bible, not Islamic principles found in the Quran, Sikh principles found in the Ad Granth, Hindu principles found in the Vedas or Buddhist principles found in the various Sutras. This is historical fact, regardless of what historical revisionists say.

This is America and people have the freedom to worship as they choose, but our foundation rests on Christianity, and our Christian heritage compels us to pray in Jesus' name. If this offends anyone, then just skip the invocation.

Frank Nolton
Woodbridge