This particular rant won't mean much to anyone who doesn't live in the Metro Detroit area and it's really just me bitching about the same thing I usually bitch about. In other words, if you don't live in the Metro Detroit area or are just sick of hearing me bitch then you might want to skip this entry.

Tonight while watching the news on the local ABC affiliate (WXYZ Channel 7) I found myself suddenly being berated or implored (I'm not sure which) by local news personality Frank Turner to pray more often. To help out those viewers who were dumb enough to actually ask their TV sets just who the hell Frank thinks they should be praying for, he went on to provide us with a short list of all the people he thought could use an extra devotional or two on their behalf.

Seems Frank is concerned that folks just don't pray enough and thinks it's sad that the government has to have a National Day of Prayer to encourage folks to engage in this vital civic duty. I tend to agree with Frank that it's sad that our government feels the need to encourage us to pray, but for different reasons than the ones he holds.

The fact is, Frank, not everyone holds the same religious outlook as you do. Some of us, such as myself, don't buy into the idea of a god or gods that are so emotionally needy and insecure that It/They had to create an entire universe and populate it with little beings that have no real purpose beyond telling him how fucking wonderful he/she/it (the god or gods in question) is. Isn't it bad enough I have to live with a President who got the office by judicial fiat instead of the actual results of a popular election telling me every time I turn around that we all need to pray? I don't need to hear that crap coming from a local news reporter who's supposed to be presenting, of all the things, the NEWS.

Yes, yes, I see from your bio on the Channel 7 web site that you are an active member in the local chapter of Life Application Ministries, a fun bunch of people who like to think that all diseases are a result of sin and as such you can cure whatever ails you by seeing your local clergy and getting right with god instead of doing what most people do and visit your local medical doctor. I especially love their claims that you can even overcome genetic diseases that run in your family tree with nothing more than a simple prayer and a lot of faith. Not that it helped a number of people over the years who have refused proper medical treatment in lieu of prayer only to end up dieing from an easily treatable condition. I guess they must have just really pissed god off. Let's just say that this particular bit of knowledge doesn't lend much credibility to the idea of you as a spiritual leader.

Which is beside the point anyway. I turned on your newscast in order to get caught up on the news, not on your personal opinions about how often and for whom you happen to think people should be praying. I suppose it's really my fault in the end because I knew there was some reason that it's been about 4 years since I last seriously tried to watch a newscast on that particular channel. After your little bit of public proselytizing it suddenly occurred to me that I stopped watching news on that channel because I felt the level of journalistic professionalism displayed by the anchors actually made the folks at the local FOX station look like absolute news geniuses. So here's my totally unsolicited personal opinion that I hope you'll take to heart: Concentrate more on providing the news and less on trying to be a TV evangelist and perhaps I'll try watching the station again in another 4 years.