A Lawsuit Over Public Prayer

A Message from the Executive Director

Friday, May 2, 2014 Dear Friends, Remember when the Dalai Lama gave the opening prayer in Congress and everyone screamed that the government was trying to establish Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion?  You don’t?    That’s because it didn’t happen. Because everyone knows that asking the Dalai Lama to pray in the halls of Congress is not establishing or endorsing his religion.    The only thing that the centuries-old American tradition of legislative prayer “establishes” or “endorses” is the founding American principle that our rights come from a higher source that legislators. It keeps our government in check with the daily reminder that the buck does not stop with the government. It reminds lawmakers that they are bound to make laws that respect the divinely bestowed human dignity inherent in each of us.    It is an essential tradition.    Not only that, but legislative prayer keeps the American melting pot warm. It’s become a unique way to showcase and embrace America’s growing religious diversity. It’s a moment when people remember that we can live together despite our differences. That we may have different names for the Creator, but that we want a country where people are free to pray and live according to the dictates of their conscience without feeling the need to hide or stay quiet. The town of Greece, New York, is one local example of this. Volunteer members of all faiths, be they Christians, Jews, Bahá’ís, or Wiccans, have participated in the local tradition by leading an invocation before a city meeting. But a couple of atheists were offended and sued. They’d rather the public square be whitewashed than a mural of genuine American pluralism. They want to have a right to express their own view but want to wipe out everyone else's right to do so.   Their lawsuit, Town of Greece v. Galloway, has gone all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Becket Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief pleading with the Justices to preserve this colorful tradition. They are expected to rule any day, and it will be the first time that the Court has addressed the constitutionality of legislative prayer in decades. Can you imagine if America had to tell faith leaders like the Dalai Lama that they cannot pray in in Congress because someone might get their feelings hurt? Because someone might mistake it for an effort to thrust Buddhism or Hinduism or Islam or what-have-you on the entire town or nation? America is better than that. Help us keep America a vibrant and diverse place, where the voices of different faiths pointing to the source of our rights are welcomed, not stifled, showcased, not shunned. Sincerely, Kristina Arriaga Executive Director

My comments: I reproduce this article because I believe it is appropriate for the Becket Fund to take this case to the Supreme Court. However, it is critical for Christians to understand that Christ Jesus did not preach DIVERSITY. No other faith prays to the Almighty God we serve, the God of the Bible, as Kristina Arriaga implies when she mentions different faiths pointing to the SOURCE of our rights. 

Ironically, no where in the Word of God, does God give us "RIGHTS." The only "RIGHT" God mentions is the "right" to become a child of God. (John 1:12) This is another misconception that can cause confusion. 

No matter what others believe or speak, in no way mitigates the TRUTH that each one of us is born into SIN. We are born with a SIN Nature and the only event that changes that condition is to be Born Again; Born of the Spirit of God; the indwelling Spirit of God. The only Hope of Glory or Heaven is Christ living in and through us. (Colossians 1:27) Christ Jesus remains the only Way, the only TRUTH and the only LIFE. (John 14:6)