Virginia AG Hopes High Court Will Rethink VMI's Mealtime Prayer Ban

by Chad Groening
January 26, 2004

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(AgapePress) - The attorney general of Virginia is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling that declared dinner-time prayers at Virginia Military Institute unconstitutional.

Last year, a U.S. federal appeals court panel upheld a lower court ruling that said VMI's emphasis on conformity pressured cadets to participate in the pre-meal prayers. But Tim Murtaugh of the Virginia Attorney General's office disagrees with the court's contention. He says there is no such pressure to participate in the prayers, as the American Civil Liberties Union claimed.

"The mealtime prayer at VMI is in fact voluntary," Murtaugh says. "There is no requirement that anyone participate or bow his or her head, or recite the words, or for that matter, even be in the room. You can wait to enter the mess hall until after the prayer is over."

Moreover, the AG's spokesman says the VMI prayers are no different from those recited in the U.S. military or at the Naval Academy. And he insists that any military environment could be perceived as coercive by those unfamiliar with military discipline.

"If people want to complain about a coercive atmosphere," he says, "well, it is a military institution. I mean, you may as well complain about having to make your bunk in the morning when you get up -- let alone complain about a prayer that is absolutely voluntary."

For himself and others who understand and respect the tradition of such institutions, Murtaugh says these complaints make no sense. "If you're going to enroll at a school like VMI, you know exactly what the program of VMI is before you go there. It's legendary," he says.

Murtaugh says he hopes the Supreme Court will agree to review the Virginia Military Institute decision and ultimately overrule it, thus restoring the right of VMI cadets to pray before their meals.

The high court could choose either to reject the AG's request, thereby leaving the prayer ban intact, or to hear the case and issue its own decision.