Criticism Leveled at Indiana Judge's 'Prayer Directive'
by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
December 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - - The Indiana Civil Liberties Union has prevailed in its effort to censor from the state legislature prayers mentioning Jesus' name . Earlier this year, the ICLU filed a lawsuit seeking to ban prayers by pastors used to open sessions of the State House of Representatives. Now a federal judge has ruled that the prayers used to open sessions of the House can no longer mention Jesus Christ or advance a religious faith. According to an ICLU press release, 29 of the 45 House prayers during the 2005 legislative session were "explicitly Christian in content," having been offered in the name of Jesus.
On November 30, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton issued a permanent injunction barring House Speaker Brian Bosma from permitting sectarian prayer as part of the official business of the House. The judge ruled that Bosma can continue the legislative prayers, but must advise those giving the invocations not to advance one faith and not to use Jesus Christ's name or title.
In a 60-page decision [PDF], the judge wrote that the Establishment Clause found in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was "intended in large part to protect religious minorities from religious majorities who might try to harness the power and prestige of the government to advance their sincere religious beliefs." In effect, Hamilton's ruling says people do not have a First Amendment right to use an official platform like the speaker's podium to express their own religious faiths. Bosma calls that an "intolerable decision" that should be overturned.
Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, says citizens there are shocked and outraged. "This was not at all what we expected," Clark admits. "It is really amazing to think that a group which describes itself as a free-speech advocate -- the [Indiana] Civil Liberties Union -- would try and curtail one type of speech."
Clark says Christians in the state need to stand up and speak out against Judge Hamilton's ruling, and not give in to the demands of groups like the ICLU. He says he is amazed at what the ICLU wants people of faith and people of values to accept and to finance with their tax dollars.
"The far Left wants us to accept all sorts of filth on television," he says, offering an example. "[And] they want us to pay for ... things that they describe as 'art,' such as a cross in a jar of urine .... They want us to accept that. But heaven forbid someone should say a minister should pray in Jesus' name at the end of his prayer."
According to news reports, Indiana political and religious leaders are outraged at Judge Hamilton's ban. Democratic state Representative Terry Goodin says he hopes to give the opening prayer when the House reconvenes in January. In his words, "A judge is not going to tell me what I can and cannot say to express my belief in Christ." And some pastors say they will not obey an order to say only generic prayers.
Hamilton's injunction stems from a lawsuit filed by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four people, including a Quaker lobbyist, who said they found the Christian prayers offensive. An appeal is expected.
