Caboose Loc: South Carolina

Yesterday, May5-2014, The unsupreme court struck a blow
for freedom. Amazing. They v**ed, 5-4, that city meetings can
have an opening prayer. As you may already know the perverts
on the court v**ed against it. This Court has no right to rule
on Religious Freedom. The case was brought by none other than
the ACLU.

Patty

This actually goes against how our government is run. We have a Chaplin in the House that opens every session with prayer.
http://chaplain.house.gov/
I wonder when they will be trying to do away with this also. He is suppose to be there for the guidance of our reps and few know that this is part of our congressional process. Those who say that this is not a Christian nation are wrong.
This is a copy of the last opening prayer.
"04/29/2014
Reverend Dr. Benny Tate

Our Heavenly Father, we bow our heads in Your presence. The Bible teaches us, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, because a House divided will not stand."

May Your servants in this body not look to parties, personalities, preferences, or press, but may they focus on principles and people. Let no personal ambition blind them to their responsibilities and accountability.

God, we call our Representatives politicians, but You call them ministers. May all the Members of this body make full proof of their ministry. I ask for Your guidance on their decisions and grace on their families.

I pray the Members of this body will seek Thy will and ways and have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it. Lift them above the claims of politics unto the dimension of a higher calling and mission.

We pray this prayer, respecting all faiths, but pray it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen. "

Ed1

I really feel sorry for those folks in this country that have so little to do that they have time to get offended by such things as "opening a meeting with a prayer". I feel offended by some of the things the GLB group does but I don't make a fuss about it. As a retired member of the military, I am really offended by discretion of the American F**g, but we move on every day. I am offended by I******s from Mexico taking down the American F**g and raising the Mexican f**g but I am more offended by the Administrators in charge for letting it happen.
Those offended by Opening Prayers need to get over it and move on.

1OldGeezer

Caboose,
The supreme court has every right to rule on religious freedom to see that some people/groups do not try to prohibit the voluntary free practice of their religion.

The First Amendment contains two clauses about the Freedom of Religion. The first part is known as the Establishment Clause, and the second as the Free Exercise Clause.

The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from passing laws that will establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. The courts have interpreted the establishment clause to accomplish the "separation of church and state".

The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the government from interfering with a person’s practice of his or her religion. However, religious actions and rituals can be limited by civil and federal laws.

Religious freedom is an absolute right, and includes the right to practice any religion of one’s choice, or no religion at all, and to do this without government control.

You have the right to practice no religion at all if YOU choose, you do not have the right to prohibit the practice of religion by others.

Side note: One of the hallmarks of tyranny is the prohibition of religion, Hitler did it, Stalin did it, it appears that attempts to demonize and prohibit Christian religious practices are being made by the Progressives here in the United States.

Religious Freedom must be curtailed/prohibited if we are to make the government our GOD as in socialism.

1oldgeezer

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

Do you find it surprising that the ACLU filed the suit? George Soros is one of the prime sources of funds for the ACLU and we all know (or should know) what his politics and intentions are for this country.

Caboose Loc: South Carolina

No i dont find that surprising. George Soros is Americas enemy.

Ricko Loc: Florida

Caboose-what freedom did anyone lose by having an opening prayer at meetings ? This country was founded on Judeo christian principles and the reason the country is going to hell in a hand-basket is because we have strayed too far from those principles. I remember the days when people did not have to lock their homes or their cars. Now, one must chain his/her bike to a post to prevent its theft. If prayer offends someone, let them stay out of the room until it ends or let them wear their ear buds and listen to their favorite radio program. The SOTUS finally got one right. Good Luck America !!!

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

For some reason, we seem to get confused about the role of Gov. in religion - which is none. Local people may do as they wish. It is NOT the role of Gov, to say what you may or may not do as a religious practice, even in Gov. functions. All the Constitution says is that Gov. shall NOT promote one religion over another - that's it.

Winter Solstice Loc: Salt Lake City

It is NONE OF THE GOVERNMENT's BUSINESS if people chose to have a prayer to begin a meeting. Those who believe that to be wrong need to look carefully at the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. There are two parts to look at most carefully. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and "or abridging the freedom of speech".
It makes no sense that the Government ever involved itself precluding both these parts of the First Amendment by disallowing prayer.

Trooper745 Loc: Carolina

Read the Bill of Rights! There is nothing in the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, or the Bill of Rights that says government bodies can't pray, or hear a prayer.

All the Bill of Rights says is, " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ....". CONGRESS is prohibited from making a FEDERAL law establishing a religion, or making a FEDERAL law prohibiting the exercise of a religion.

NOTHING in the Bill of Rights says that the governments, federal, state or local, has to AVOID any religious practice.

In fact, the way that the 1st Amendment is written, the individual states could make laws establishing a State Religion. Of course, that will never happen unless or until either Muslims or Wiccans become a majority in some state of the USA, ... and of course, the left would be okay with it then.

Caboose Loc: South Carolina

I didnt say they couldnt pray....you said that.
I didnt say they did have to avoid Religous practice.

ron vrooman Loc: Now OR, born NV

Trooper745 federal law on religion from the Bill of Rights trumps any state law on religion. That is in the Constitution.

Patty

Here is a good analysis of how they outlawed prayer in school I think. Hey just change a couple words and you can do what you want.
"How the Supreme Court Re-defined the Historic Term, “Establishment of Religion”.

13. We have seen that Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison said the distinguishing characteristic of an “established religion” was that the “established” denomination was supported by mandatory taxes or tithes, whereas “tolerated” denominations were supported by voluntary offerings of their adherents.



14. Now let us see how judges on the supreme Court re-defined “establishment of religion” in order to ban prayer in public schools. Engel v. Vitale (1962), is the case where six men outlawed non-denominational prayer in the public schools. A public school board in New York had directed that the following prayer be said at school:


Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.

Any student was free to remain seated or leave the room, without any comments by the teacher one way or the other.

But six men on the supreme Court said this short, non-denominational and voluntary prayer constituted an “establishment of religion” in violation of the First Amendment! They (Hugo Black 6 Warren, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, and Douglas) admitted that allowing school children to say this prayer did not really “establish” a “religion”! They admitted that the prayer:


…does not amount to a total establishment of one particular religious sect to the exclusion of all others — that, indeed, the governmental endorsement of that prayer seems relatively insignificant when compared to the governmental encroachments upon religion which were commonplace 200 years ago…(p.436)

Douglas wrote in his concurring opinion:


I cannot say that to authorize this prayer is to establish a religion in the strictly historic meaning of those words. A religion is not established in the usual sense merely by letting those who choose to do so say the prayer that the public school teacher leads. (p.442)

But these six men didn’t want children praying in school. So, they just redefined “establishment of religion” to mean, “a religious activity”, “a prayer” (p.424), having public school children hear or recite a prayer that “somebody in government composed” (pp.425-427), “writing or sanctioning official prayers”(p.435), and “government endorsement of a prayer” (p.436).

These six men also admitted that even though no coercion was present, and even though the prayer was “denominationally neutral”, it still constituted an unlawful “establishment of religion”:


The Establishment Clause … does not depend upon any showing of direct governmental compulsion and is violated by the enactment of laws which establish an official religion whether those laws operate directly to coerce nonobserving individuals or not. (p.430)

Douglas said in his concurring opinion:


There is no element of compulsion or coercion in New York’s regulation requiring that public schools be opened each day with the … prayer (p.438); there is … no effort at indoctrination, and no attempt at exposition … New York’s prayer … does not involve any element of proselytizing … (p.439).

15. They thus redefined “established religion” to describe what the N.Y. public schools were doing so that they could then outlaw it. They don’t have that right! We have quoted Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton & James Madison as showing that the essence of an “established religion” is that the civil government selects a particular religious denomination (Roman Catholic or Church of England or Congregational or Presbyterian, etc., and forces everybody to financially support that particular denomination with taxes or tithes."
http://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/category/prayer-in-public-schools/