Federal Judge Prohibits Prayer at Texas Graduation Ceremony

[tater]

That chaplain is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, clearly. "God" (singular) is already "establishment" in fact. Why not "gods?"

You say no one can force you, but no one can stop you---8212;when the prayers is said by a government official, it is the State engaging in religion, not the individual. The principal, etc, can say whatever they like on their own time, in their home, church, or even on a soap box in the park. I don't think they should do so in their official capacity, and if they do, they should be required to include every single possible belief.

A "sharper knife" wrote:

Mr. President

To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. [Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect.] Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association assurances of my high respect & esteem.

(signed) Thomas Jefferson
Jan.1.1802.

Should not the Senate chaplain be required to alternate "prayers" for every single practice in the US out of fairness? Branch Davidian prayer, the nuts who offed themselves waiting for the UFO, the flying spaghetti monster, satan, wicca, etc, ad nauseum. All it should take is a petition, and the prayer should be forced on him.

In general I'm rather loose about separation. I've posted here that some suits brought are absurd (like changing city seals that date back hundreds of years to remove crosses, etc). This comes up in NM all the time with towns like "Santa" this and that, and "Las Cruces" (the crosses)... where such cases are heard in our capital, "Holy Faith" (Santa Fe) which is nestled in the "Blood of Christ" mountains (Sangre de Christo). It can go too far. Prayer, OTOH, is way beyond this, and is in fact an overtly religious act by the state.

Yeah, I'm against the 10 commandments on the SCOTUS building, too (amazing anyone thinks those ridiculous commandments deserve to be there (they also seem to forget that the punishment for most all transgressions of them is in fact supposed to be death)).