When Did "Pray" Become a 4-Letter Word?

Mike & Friends Blog

Karen Matts LPN

Karen Matts is a licensed practical nurse and a proud member of Teamsters Local 332.

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April 12th, 2010 9:18 PM

When Did "Pray" Become a 4-Letter Word?

I'm writing to you with an update on my 300 sisters and brothers in Flint, Michigan who work for the largest Catholic hospital chain in the country. They're still fighting for a new contract and fighting the cuts Ascension Health wants to make at Genesys Medical Center (see www.StopAscensionAbuses.com for more information).

Our Teamster local put up a billboard to ask for the community's help. We have seen such an outpouring of love and support in Flint, in Michigan and across the country - it has really been amazing.

The billboard asked the community to pray for the workers and pray for the patients who will be hurt by all the cuts.

Mysteriously, the billboard was taken down after just three days. We were told that not only can we not use the words "Ascension" or "Genesys" on the billboard, we could not use the word "pray" either.

I'm guessing that Ascension had a hand in this. They're big and powerful and they seem to be used to bullying people around.

As a practicing Catholic, I am offended that prayer, which is the most powerful and most positive form of support you can give, was deemed objectionable and was censored.

We have since been able to convince the billboard company, CBS Outdoor, that censoring the word "pray" is not going to go over well in Flint. We are still not allowed to say "Ascension" or "Genesys," though, even though the previous billboard said, "Labor Board Charges Genesys With Destroying Working Lives Of Good Union Employees" after Ascension/Genesys wrongfully eliminated its clinical engineers.

The new billboard that says "Pray for Hospital Workers and Patients" will go up later this week.

I pray for my former colleagues every day. I hope it gives them some comfort to know that. How Ascension could think it owns the rights to prayer or even talking about prayer, I'll never understand.

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