Before the Supreme Court Hearing, Watch the Prayer Videos

Written by Don Byrd
Legislative prayer may be the most controversial church-state issue today. Supporters of unchecked government prayers opening public meetings argue government invocations are free speech and free religious exercise protected by the First Amendment. They reject any solution that would place any limitation on government prayers as in improper intrusion of government into religious matters. Opponents of such a practice – like the Baptist Joint Committee, which filed a brief in the case – argue government prayers improperly promote and endorse religious views and potentially coerce or chill the First Amendment freedoms of citizens, in violation of the Establishment Clause. (you can listen to a BJC podcast detailing their views on the case here.)

As you probably are aware by now, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a legislative prayer case next month to weigh in on this issue for the first time in 30 years. Town of Greece v. Galloway is a case challenging the prayer policy of a city council in New York. What you may not be aware of is the content of the prayers in question in the case. It’s one thing to talk abstractly about this issue: about the constitutional and religious dangers of government prayer, whether they should be non-sectarian, whether the participating clergy should rotate, and what safeguards local governments should put in place to protect from coercion or the appearance of endorsement the citizens who have business at the meeting. It’s another thing altogether to actually listen to some of the prayers that precipitated this lawsuit. I highly recommend it.