Posted on 05/06/2014 5:08:04 AM PDT by xzins
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that cities and towns across America can continue praying at public meetings.
Monday's 5-4 decision centers on an action that dates back to the nation's founding in 1774, when the first Continental Congress opened with Christian prayers.
Two-hundred and forty years later, however, America is much more religiously diverse. That is part of the reason an atheist and Jew challenged prayers at public meetings in the town of Greece, New York.
They claimed the prayers were mostly Christian, made them uncomfortable, and amounted to coercion.
But in the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy warned against courts becoming censors of religious speech.
"Government is prohibited from prescribing prayers ... In order to promote a preferred system of belief or code of moral behavior," Kennedy wrote.
"It would be a few steps removed from that prohibition for legislatures to require chaplains to redact the religious content from their message in order to make it acceptable for the public sphere," he continued.
Meanwhile, the implications of Monday's ruling extend across the country.
For instance, picturesque Carroll County, Maryland, with its farmhouses and rolling hills, seems like a peaceful place. But there's a storm brewing at the intersection of faith and politics and it's drawing national attention.
A group of residents sued the county because the commissioners' opening prayers were only Christian. A federal judge agreed, temporarily barring the board from praying in Jesus' name.
The injunction didn't sit well with one of the commissioners.
"I think that is an infringement on my freedom of speech and freedom of religion," Carroll County Commissioner Robin Frazier told The Baltimore Sun. "I think it's a wrong ruling. But out of respect for my colleagues, I'm not sure how strongly they feel about it, I'm willing to go to jail over it."
Commissioner Frazier also defended her stance on Fox News.
"I said that I pray in Jesus because that's how the Bible instructs us to pray," Frazier said. "John 16:24 says, 'Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name, ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full.' That's Jesus speaking."
After the residents' lawyers filed a motion for contempt, the county, the commissioners, and their legal team went silent.
Commissioner Frazier, Carroll County, and their legal team all declined CBN News's requests for interviews. Although they remain tight-lipped about the issue, people in and around the county had strong opinions about the matter.
"Congress does it so it's okay," one man said.
"I agree 100 percent - yeah, I do," Westminster, Maryland, resident Susan Miller said.
But Woodlawn, Maryland, resident Rachael Yost viewed the matter differently.
"I think that's the part that makes it feel very specific to Christianity. If it was just a generic everyone pray to some higher power, that'd be alright," Yost said. "But (that) automatically excludes me from what's going on."
"This isn't about atheism being pushed down someone's throat," she continued. "This is about being inclusive to everyone, including Christians."
Monica Miller, a lawyer with American Humanist Association, represents the residents, which include a practicing Catholic. She said the Supreme Court ruling won't make much of a difference in the Carroll County case.
"It looked like the town (Greece) was making an effort to be all inclusive, and it seemed as though, although a majority of those prayers ended up being Christian, there were others," she said.
"In this case if the county decided to completely change its practice and do something exactly like the town of Greece perhaps that would be okay," she added.
Jordan Sekulow, with the American Center for Law and Justice, disagreed.
"This idea that we're going to have prayer, but it can't be sectarian prayer is now out the door," Sekulow told CBN News. "That is a big deal for people when you talk about praying in Jesus' name."
"What the court said today is if you're going to have prayer, and there's a Christian praying, they can absolutely close their prayer in Jesus' name," he continued. "So, we're not going to make that distinction anymore. So I think that will have an impact on a number of cases."
A first step to re-establish prayer in the classroom?
There is no basis for people in New York to erect a statue in Oklahoma. And really, there’s no basis, even for it to be erected in Oklahoma by any Satanists who live there in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma council should designate a landscaping decoration area, assign a committee to decorate it, take recommendations, and choose one.
The court emphasized equal rights. The town's process made it possible for any group in the phone book to have their turn. If they haven't chosen to be a group and to put their name in the phone book, then that's on them. And when they do, then they'll get selected randomly at the rate at which they number among all other such groups.
AND, if there's a group that wants NO PRAYER AT ALL, then they can start a group, put their name in the book, get their turn, and spend the 1 minute (short sectarian) saying NOTHING....or even ranting for all I care. I'll learn more about who they are by the way they use their turn when their number ever comes up.
See post #13
-PJ
See #13
I think it can be made to fit if people are willing to find a random method of selecting those who pray from among either students, teachers, or local congregations.
Destructive little gotcha they've got going. The lord (USSC) giveth, the lord taketh away.
Next think you know they'll let us keep the real definition of marriage intact... /s
Beast.gov has put itself in the place of God, defining words and reality as it sees fit. In defense of its tower of lies, it targets lawful (truthful) citizens for destruction.
You have informed insight to this issue, dear brother in Christ, thank you for sharing!
Exactly, right on the money. And I think this is one of those times.
His libertarian ruling has to do with the government not acting as a religion police, going over prayers, rewriting them, and establishing a preferred prayer.
A libertarian would say that individuals should be free to be themselves without government influence. That others simply need to get over their sensitivities every time they hear something they don't agree with.
That's what Kennedy said with the provision that there be a systematic method of choosing who is to pray at any meeting that puts all possible prayers in a pool from which their name could be selected.
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