| In the Beginning There Was the Prayer |
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| Written by Clay Miller | |
| Sunday, 03 August 2008 | |
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I've been watching the comments and noticing that we have had a lot of activity on the last Op-Ed piece by Eric Frances about the opening prayer at City Council meetings. I thought I would write my first Op-Ed piece about a slightly controversial topic. Here goes... From the first page of the July 31st Senate Congressional Record : The Invocation (or opening prayer), like it or not, has been a part of American political culture since before the Bill of Rights and the Establishment Clause, the basis of "the separation of church and state", were even written. Based on this fact the Supreme Court ruled in 1983 (Marsh v. Chambers), by a vote of 6-3, that the practice of chaplaincy, or prayers delivered by a chaplain, is "part of the fabric of our society." In these circumstances, an invocation for Divine guidance is not an establishment of religion. "It is," wrote Chief Justice Warren Burger, "simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country." The Supreme Court based it's decision on the basis of the fact that members of both the 2nd Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention employed chaplains and conducted opening prayers. The invocation is to this day a common custom throughout most of the United States of America. It has been a part of North Little Rock City Council since it's creation on April 11th, 1904 when T.C. Johnston, a local minister, gave the opening prayer and a prayer has been the traditional Council opening ever since. There have however been challenges to this decision over the past 25 years, in the Supreme Court decision they specified that the content of the prayer is of no concern to the court unless it is proselytizing or disparaging to other faiths. This has proved to be a sticky point, with some cases and controversies stemming from the use of "Jesus" in prayers. However the Supreme Court has not made a further ruling on this issue since the Marsh v. Chambers case so this issue is still legally "fuzzy". Efforts to legislate prayer during government functions also run into problems because by the First Amendment the government is not allowed prohibit the free exercise of religion. Even if the opening prayer was banned, it seems likely to me that citizens would chose to offer a prayer during the public comments section of council. However the invocation is not likely to go away, it seems to me to be as much a part of American tradition as "In God We Trust" or celebrating Easter as a national holiday. However I do believe that the prayer could be improved. I personally would prefer to hear a minister's prayer over a politician's (even if the politician is a former minister). Also I would prefer to have diversity with the prayers, rotating the invitations. I think the prayer could be better used not only as a time to reflect and worship, but also as an opportunity for the Council to show the breadth and depth of religious experience in our City. In conclusion I believe the the opening prayer is a part of tradition and as such we need to honor it, and as long as it's purpose isn't proselytizing or denigrating to other faiths it isn't a threat to anyone and should be respected as an American tradition regardless of faith. Texas Municipal League paper on Prayer at City Council Meetings (pdf) What is your opinion?  4 Comments Write comment
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 04 August 2008 ) |
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August 03, 2008