The United States Supreme Court today in a 5-4 ruling upheld the ability of government leaders to open their meetings in prayer, a tradition that dates back centuries in the United States.
The Court’s decision was split along political lines, with the conservative justices upholding the tradition and the liberal justices seeking to strike it down.
The case originated in 2007 in Greece, N.Y., where two individuals successfully sued the city, claiming the prayers offered before their town board meetings were unconstitutional because they were almost exclusively Christian and “pressured those in attendance to participate.”
The case worked its way through the judicial system, ending in the Supreme Court with today’s ruling.
“The First Amendment is not a majority rule, and government may not seek to define permissible categories of religious speech,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. “Once it invites prayer into the public sphere, government must permit a prayer-giver to address his or her own God or gods as conscience dictates.”
Justice Elena Kagan disagreed.
“No one can fairly read the prayers from Greece’s town meetings as anything other than explicitly Christian – constantly and exclusively so,” Kagan wrote in her dissent. “The prayers betray no understanding that the American community is today, as it long has been, a rich mosaic of religious faiths.”
Kagan argued that government bodies should be forced to avoid sectarian or divisive prayers. But other justices argued that no prayer could satisfy everyone in attendance, leaving them with only two options: uphold legislative prayer, or get rid of it entirely.
“Not only is there no historical support for the proposition that only generic prayer is allowed,” Justice Samuel Alito said, “but as our country has become more diverse, composing a prayer that is acceptable to all members of the community who hold religious beliefs has become harder and harder.”
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. – First Amendment, United States Constitution
In Alabama, legislative leaders spoke out in support of the Court’s decision.
“I applaud the United States Supreme Court’s decision today to support and protect legislative prayer,” said Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard. “Legislative prayer dates back to the very foundation of our democracy and it is a practice that is embedded into the rules of the Alabama Legislature.”
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh called prayer “an indispensable component of our proceedings each day in the Alabama Legislature.”
But in spite of Alabama being widely viewed as one of the most socially conservative states in the nation, not everyone in the Yellowhammer State is supportive of legislative prayer.
The Montgomery Area Freethought Association held a rally at the Alabama State Capitol over the weekend that included speakers from a variety of groups, including the American Atheists, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Alabama ACLU — all of which spoke out fervently against legislative prayer. The group listed roughly ten instances in which they felt the State of Alabama had inappropriately mixed church and state affairs, including several bills passed by the Legislature; Baldwin County’s decision to display “In God We Trust” in its government buildings; and perhaps most notably, The Alabama Public Service Commission’s (PSC) decision to invite Pastor John Jordan to deliver a prayer before a meeting last year.
After Jordan prayed to open a PSC public hearing in July, several members of the Alabama media and an environmental group representative spent the next couple of hours mocking Jordan’s prayer and ridiculing the general concept of praying at public meetings. Michael Hansen, a PR person for local environmental group GASP went so far as to call it ‘batsh** crazy’ to pray at public meetings.
Why are we praying at a public meeting about utility rates? #batshit pic.twitter.com/lE1d1jkHkB
— Michael Hansen (@MichaelHansen) July 17, 2013
Right Wing Watch, a media outlet “dedicated to monitoring and exposing the activities of the right-wing movement;” Queerty, an LGBT site; and a section of The Huffington Post called “Gay Voices” also joined in the criticism.
But today’s Supreme Court decision affirms the ability of government bodies around the country — including in Alabama — to open their meetings in prayer.
“The inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce non-believers,” Justice Kennedy said in conclusion.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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