Posted on 05/05/2014 7:31:47 AM PDT by Pyro7480
This morning the Supreme Court held in Town of Greece v. Galloway, that the town's practice of beginning legislative sessions with prayers does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It was a 5-4 decision, split along traditional right-left lines.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“Here come prayers at city councils of religions you dont like.”
Why should that make a difference? A prayer at a public meeting is nothing but a desire of one person (the prayer-giver) to invoke the blessings of their recognized higher power on whatever the meeting is intended to accomplish. It may be a request for wisdom or peaceful debate or something else but the point is the public organization is not the instigator of the prayer but the intended beneficiary.
If I, as a Christian, have a Muslim friend who says to me, “It looks like you are having a tough day; may I pray for you?”, should I be offended? My response would be to be touched by my friend’s concern and appreciative that he is trying to help me in the best way he knows how. I don’t have to share a belief in the same diety to accept and make my own similar wishes to others.
So in a public meeting, I don’t care whether the prayer is addressed to Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddha, Ra, Satan or anyone or anything else. I take the good wishes and hopes of the prayer-giver as something good for all of us to consider and pass along. It doesn’t mean you agree with everything that has been said, only that you appreciate the sentiment and intent.
Me, too, bro :)
Cardinal Mooney H.S. Class of '81
5-4 for free speech is sad. There is always next time for SCOTUS to overturn the first amendment
Woot! I wonder how the 3 chosen voted.
I believe that they have been so confused by previous rulings that they can't see beyond their over-educated law minutia. The founding document is expressively clear.
The "general welfare" and "commerce" clauses were never meant to be so infinite. The writings of our Founding Fathers were very clear in the Federalist and even anti-Federalist papers, not to mention their specific writings in other correspondence and personal diaries.
To remind us all, the entire purpose of the Constitution was to LIMIT federal government. They even had to spell it out further in the 9th and 10th Amendments. STATES RIGHTS!
As someone once said, "What is a 100 lawyers at the bottom of the sea?". A good start. Lawyers spin, parse, distort, manipulate, and on. I hate lawyers, until I need one...haha.
The above said, Supreme Court justices should not have life tenure.
When you think about it, just one black robe can determine the fate of this country. As has already been shown.
We need to start constructing lots and lots of new insane asylums.
Is time set aside during church for the local city officials to discuss city business?
Not in my church. Ask the black churches though. I believe there is quite a history of mixing politics and church. Prayer, however, is not mixing religion and government for the reason I stated in my original post.
Again, I have no problem with sectarian prayers in public meetings so long as the opportunity to say such prayers is offered to anyone or group who requests it in an even-handed manner. And if atheists wish to invoke whatever higher power they recognize to bless a public gathering, I have no problem with it.
I’m glad of the result. The fools of the Freedom From Religion bunch were planning on suing the city of Rapid City, South Dakota because they were holding prayer before their council meetings. Last night they held their council meeting and opened it with an invocation. The first time in over a year.
I feel like GLOATING!! Ha-Ha!
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