Well, this is good news, but the ruling should have indeed been 9-0 as one FReeper noted. Prayers at government functions and meetings do not create an established religion, and it would be impossible to define a standard that said if such prayers took place, they would have to represent all religions equally. Would satanists have to have equal time even if there wasn’t a single satanist within 100 miles of the prayer location?
The simplest standard and one that could be easily and fairly applied to all is to permit the town to hold whatever prayers it wants—consistent with the generally held religious beliefs of its citizens—so long as participation is not mandatory.
As a Christian, I think other religions are wrong, but I certainly respect the right of other Americans to practice those religions or no religion at all. I wouldn’t be offended if a city council composed mostly of nonbelievers simply had no prayer at all, and I’d be respectful if the majority had a different religion (and prayer) from my own.
There is, of course, another enforceable standard, and that would be to prohibit all religious expression in any government or publicly funded forum and enforce the ban with force. That would involve policing everything said or done to ensure a name like Jesus was never uttered. It would literally require a 1984 Orwellian state, and I hope most Americans still prefer liberty.
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