Tag Archives: June 22

I Quit ‘Rotary’ Today Because My Religious Beliefs Preclude Me From Belonging To A Religious Organization.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 4, 2023

Click to ENLARGE.

The God-centric ‘Rotary Prayer’ that my ex-club was trying to get me to comply with!

Click to ENLARGE. Two versions of God-centric Rotary prayers. (Google for more).
Click to ENLARGE. Link to ‘The Washington Post’ original.

‘Rotary International‘ is said to be NON-RELIGIOUS.

Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I WAS a member as of TODAY.

All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.

Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.

I really STRUGGLED over this.

Very unlike I, who prefers not to mull too much about decisions & actions, I wrestled with this for weeks.

I finally decided that I cannot …

Just cannot.

NO, I WOULD NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.

This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.

God-Centric ‘Rotary Prayer’ That I Cannot Abide.

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by Anura Guruge
on August 26, 2023

Click to ENLARGE. Two versions of God-centric Rotary prayers. (Google for more).
Click to ENLARGE. Link to ‘The Washington Post’ original.

‘Rotary International‘ is said to be NON-RELIGIOUS.

I also appreciate that the God-centric prayers, still referred to by SOME as ‘Rotary Prayers‘, are from way back — having their roots in the 1920s.

Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I am currently a member of.

All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.

Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.

I have ONLY been to ONE meeting where I was subjected to this prayer. I WAS STUNNED. So stunned that I was not quick enough to walk out. Well I have had plenty of time to reflect on it. As I have told a number of other members the NEXT TIME I am at a meeting where this prayer is invoked I WILL WALK OUT — & it will be my last meeting. My days at Rotary are numbered anyway. Very unlikely that I will be a Rotarian in 2024 — & IF I AM, it certainly will not be at this Club that is RAMMING GOD down my throat.

NO, I will NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.

This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.

I lucked out this week. We had a temporary leader. He knew that I was all set to walk out. So, he, very astutely & KINDLY, did a ‘minute of contemplation’. That was VERY COOL & I am very grateful for his gracious act (so much so that I treated him to lunch).

Smile. Well some of you know my feelings about prayer — never mind God.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For August 3, 2023 — Club Matters Under The New Leadership.

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by Anura Guruge
on August 3, 2023

Click on images to ENLARGE.

The new commanding Colonel-at-Arms doing a good job holding one of the walls up.

I missed a few weeks (e.g., last week because of ‘Tall Ships), so this was my first meeting under the new, dynamic leadership of Paula P. & Jason P. It was a good, fun, productive meeting with 17 members (but no guests or visitors) in attendance. Paula provided sandwiches, chips & drinks (from Hannaford) for those that wished to partake & most did. It was good.

There was no program scheduled for the meeting. It was going to be a ‘Club Meeting’ & it truly was. We had received three Thank You notes & they were read out. That was much appreciated.

We discussed a wide range of pertinent matters such as: forthcoming programs (ably led by our new member, Gail), membership, club Website, club Facebook page (& advertising on it), membership status, membership drives, Band Stand & Dragon Boats. As expected we ran out of time & barely managed to squeeze in the all-important raffle. Alas, to his intense chagrin, The Chief did not have the winning ticket (most likely because his usual partner in these shenanigan’s was off to the races (no doubt making out like a bandit)). Given the late hour, some attendees had already left ahead of the raffle. The raffle was supposedly won, in absentia, by John P — but the Colonel-in-Arms held on to the winnings (which he probably will invest for the week in a 5% U.S. Treasury (so that John will get even more).

That was it, as far as I could remember. Good gathering. Great spirit.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For June 22, 2023 — With ‘Old Man Of The Mountain Presentation’.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 22, 2023

Click on images to ENLARGE.

This was our first meeting after what had proved to be our BUMPER ‘Bike Week Raffle’. It was well attended (i.e., 18 members) & everyone was in high spirits (though we (alas) lacked any bubbly to toast our success). I won’t divulge exactly how much we made, though it is said to be the ALL TIME RECORD & we sold over 4,000 tickets. (You can do the math.)

There was an announcement about the ‘Rod Dyer‘ recognition event, in ‘Laconia’, next week. We were also informed, to everyone’s delight, that our indefatigable treasurer had worked behind the scenes to ensure that 94-year old Navy vet, who came & spoke to us in March, ‘Norm Sanborn‘, was awarded an honorary High School diploma — which he did not get because he was too busy serving the country during WW II. That was well received.

The winner of this week’s raffle (for the 2nd time this year (if I am NOT mistaken)) just happened to be Rod Dyer, Esq. Though he picked TWO cards from the pack he, alas, was not able to locate the ACE. (The Chief has probably appropriated the Ace already for his next win (most likely next week).)

Today’s eagerly anticipated program was “The Old Man: His Life Legacy” by ‘Prof. Inez McDermott‘. The ‘Old Man’ in this case being our ex-Man of the Mountain as opposed to our ‘Chief’ (who did attend). She is the curator of the “An Enduring Presence: The Old Man of the Mountain” exhibit at the ‘Museum of White Mountains‘ in ‘Plymouth’. He was very informative & she regaled us with a fascinating collection of old pictures & tales about the ‘Profile Hotel’ that used to be there. Excellent.

Just for the record we did NOT receive any strawberry shortcakes from ‘THE BAKERY’. Maybe next week.

Here are two pictures of LAST YEAR’s (i.e., 2022) raffle winner visiting our booth last Saturday.