Constitutional or not, I think there are far more important issues to be focusing on these days. I'm not a religious person and I'm also not offended by this. I'm sure there are a lot of people that don't celebrate certain holidays that are based on religion, but I haven't heard any complaints about that. If you want to pray, then pray. If you don't, no one is forcing you.
National Day Of Prayer 2010: Federal Judge Rules Unconstitutional
Friday, April 16, 2010
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I agree with you 100%. I'm not religious, but I'm not offended either. Besides, prayer isn't exclusive to one religion...
ReplyDeleteI would expect, based on a number of precedents, that if the case goes to the Supreme Court, that U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional may be upheld.
ReplyDeleteWe can compare rulings related to prayer in school -- when acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the Establishment Clause from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students. Also, below is a link to a lot of relevant info, including -- "the 1990s were marked by controversies surrounding religion's role in public affairs. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the offering of prayers by religious officials before voluntarily attended ceremonies such as graduation. Thus, the Court established that the state could not conduct religious exercises at public occasions even if attendance was not strictly compulsory. In Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe (2000), the Court ruled that a vote of the student body could not authorize student-led prayer prior to school events." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Establishment_Clause_of_the_First_Amendment