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In a landmark decision handed down today, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the long-standing tradition of offering prayers at the start of government meetings.

Fox News.com is reporting that the justices ruled 5-4 in favor of allowing local officials to open town council meetings with prayer, saying that the content of the prayer is not critical as long as officials genuinely seek to be inclusive of all faiths.

The case, Town of Greece v. Galloway, began in 2007 when two women, one Jewish and the other an atheist, complained about the predominantly Christian prayers that were being said before town board meetings. They claimed the frequent mention of the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit violated their constitutional rights and took the town to court even though the town tried to accommodate the women by adding a Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess and a representative of the Baha'i faith to the mix.

After various rulings and appeals from lower courts, the case landed at the Supreme Court where the majority of the justices disagreed with the two women and upheld the town's right to pray.

"The prayer opportunity is evaluated against the backdrop of a historical practice showing that prayer has become part of the Nation's heritage and tradition," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. "It is presumed that the reasonable observer is acquainted with this tradition and understands that its purposes are to lend gravity to public proceedings and to acknowledge the place religion holds in the lives of many private citizens."

The justices also pointed out that the intended audience "is not the public, but the lawmakers themselves."

"The inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers."

Justice Elena Kagan, joined by the court's other three liberal justices, in dissenting with the majority, saying that sectarian prayers issued at town meetings in Greece were delivered to "ordinary citizens" and that their participation was encouraged.

"No one can fairly read the prayers from Greece's town meetings as anything other than explicitly Christian -- constantly and exclusively so," Kagan said. "The prayers betray no understanding that the American community is today, as it long has been, a rich mosaic of religious faiths."

The majority disagreed, as they did with a suggestion that the court allow prayers to be "parsed" or screened by the board beforehand. This idea was also dismissed by the justices who said the kind of censorship suggested  would involve the government far more in the town's business than by simply inviting clergy to deliver prayers.

“The Supreme Court has again affirmed that Americans are free to pray," said David Cortman, Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, the law firm that represented the Town of Greece.

"In America, we tolerate a diversity of opinions and beliefs; we don’t silence people or try to separate what they say from what they believe. Opening public meetings with prayer is a cherished freedom that the authors of the Constitution themselves practiced. Speech censors should have no power to silence volunteers who pray for their communities just as the Founders did.”

 

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