Written by Don Byrd
Two residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee filed suit against the Hamilton County Commission over the use of Christian prayer to open meetings.
The suit says “the commission starts the meetings with a prayer and invoking the prayer in the name of Jesus” which violates the constitutional ban on government endorsing any specific religion, in this case, Christianity.
…
“The acts and omissions of the defendants in the prayer practice stated herein are a blatant endorsement by government of the Christian religion that any reasonable person would see as an endorsement of the Christian religion to the exclusion of all other religions.”
The suit asks only for the practice to stop, not for damages. In a letter to the Commission before taking legal action, the plaintiffs asked the County to hold a moment of silence instead of offering a Christian prayer, but the practice continued.
