The U.S. Supreme Court says no. A federal court ruled that prayers endorsing a specific religion can not be offered at Forsyth County commissioner meetings, and last month the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of that decision.
Now, N.C. House leaders seem to be ignoring that. Prayers backing a particular religion, almost always Christianity, are routinely offered in the House and Senate chambers. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Majority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, see no problem with that.
“The same Constitution that prohibits government-sponsored religion also protects the right of individuals to exercise their faith as they so choose,” Tillis said in a statement that the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Said Stam: “Members volunteer to pray and do so at their own free will, and their prayers are not directed or censored by any government official.”
By that logic, Tillis and Stam should be fine opening the legislature with a prayer in Mohammed’s name. That, of course, would be wrong, too.
The ACLU is challenging the legislative prayers. Tillis is dismissing the ACLU as a far-left group. They may be, but that is beside the point. People on the left, middle and right should worry about government imposing religious views on the public.
Yes, individuals can exercise their faith, but doing so to open a meeting of a government that represents all people of all faiths is something else entirely. The Founding Fathers made clear that they wanted a separation between church and state. They had seen religious oppression in England, and so wrote freedom of religion into the First Amendment. Government could not favor one religion over another.
That means anyone is free to practice whatever religion they like. But the government is not allowed to push one religion over others. That violates what the Founding Fathers intended, which the Supreme Court has now confirmed. At public meetings, North Carolina’s leaders should pray in a more general way, or not at all.
-- Taylor Batten
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