Two major victories for public prayer "in Jesus' name" were just declared in
the Indiana and Ohio legislatures, but three new battles rage in Pennsylvania,
Florida and North Carolina where legislators are considering banning "Jesus"
prayers.
Please enjoy my WND commentary, pasted below....also online at:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58464
In Jesus name,
Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt
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This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which
follows.
To view this item online, visit
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58464
Friday, November 2, 2007
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2 victories for Jesus prayers
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Posted: November 2, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Gordon James Klingenschmitt
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© 2007
Two major victories for public prayer "in Jesus' name" were just declared
in the Indiana and Ohio legislatures, but three new battles rage in
Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina where legislators are considering
banning "Jesus" prayers. In Indiana, the ACLU lost another lawsuit, when
the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a bad ruling by a liberal judge who
had ordered praying to Jesus was illegal on the floor of the Indiana House. The
appeals court restored liberty this week, ruling that easily offended
bystanders have no legal standing to sue, since no taxpayer dollars were spent
promoting prayer. Judge Roy Moore, who filed an amicus brief to defend
the courageous former Republican Speaker Brian Bosma and current Democrat
Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, said of the victory: "Thankfully, the Court of
Appeals in Hinrichs [v. Indiana Speaker Bosma] reversed the absurd prayer
censorship order of the lower court, which means the Indiana House of
Representatives does not have to tell its invited clergy that the name of
Jesus cannot be uttered in their prayers." Undaunted, the ACLU vowed to sue
Indiana again soon. In Ohio, Republican House Speaker Jon Husted reversed
his temporary ban on Jesus prayers, overruling the easily offended Minority
Leader Chris Redfern, who had walked out in protest when a pastor prayed in
Jesus' name. When two WorldNetDaily commentaries by myself and Janet Folger
exposed Refern as a whiner, Speaker Husted was besieged by phone calls from
pastors and citizens who demanded liberty be restored. After hearing Ohio
Christian Alliance director Chris Long, Speaker Husted found his backbone and
restored liberty, saying: "I will not allow for our prayers to be censored
prayer is a time of reflection and guidance, a time which should not be
governed by political advocacy or personal opinion." Perhaps he realized 85 to
94 percent of voters want to give chaplains freedom. Former Ohio
ACLU legal director Raymond Vasvari admitted that "government inviting a
minister to speak and then vetting the prayer is akin to illegal prior
restraint." (Apparently, that's why he's former legal director too Christian
for ACLU?) Despite these victories, Pennsylvania legislators are
considering abolishing prayer "in Jesus' name" under fear of lawsuits. This
week, the anti-Jesus group Americans United (To Abolish the Church with State
Sword?) intimidated four Keystone state senators, demanding they ban prayers to
Jesus on the Senate floor. These four senators might cave in just to
avoid offending AU's "professional complainers." But I wonder if Pennsylvania
voters will contact their senators like those courageous Ohioans? And I wonder
if these Pennsylvania senators will find the nerve to win a lawsuit like the
courageous bipartisan Indiana speakers did? The Alliance Defense Fund offers
them pro-bono defense. I've written my personal letter and e-mailed
and phoned these four senators. Now I'm forwarding this article to every
Pennsylvania citizen (especially pastors) I can. Will everybody do the same?
AU also threatened Florida commissioners in Osceola County to ban Jesus
prayers, saying "they hope things will be resolved without any legal action,
but they aren't sure what they will do next." I pray Floridians will encourage
these commissioners to defend free speech. In North Carolina, two town
councils in Fayetteville and Cumberland County recently banned Jesus prayers.
By selectively misquoting two contradictory rulings by the 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals, the big-city ACLU lawyers apparently confused the small-town country
lawyers into frightened submission. Yes, it's true the 4th Circuit
prevented a legislature from requiring ALL prayers MUST end in Jesus' name
(2004 Wynne v. Town of Great Falls). But they essentially reversed themselves
in 2005, opening a big loophole (Simpson v. Chesterfield), ruling
diverse prayers to "the God of Abraham, of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad" were
sufficiently non-sectarian, even for government speakers, permitting diverse
traditions to take turns. Chesterfield County "never insisted on the invocation
of Jesus Christ by name, as the Town Council in Great Falls did," so occasional
prayers to Jesus are fully authorized. In 1991, Lee vs. Weisman, the
Supreme Court ruled: "The government may not establish an official or civic
religion as a means of avoiding the establishment of a religion with more
specific creeds. ... The State's role did not end with the decision to include
a prayer and with the choice of clergyman. [They] provided a copy of the
'Guidelines for Civic Occasions' and advised him that his prayers should be
non-sectarian. Through these means, [they] directed and controlled the content
of the prayers. ... It is a cornerstone principle of our Establishment Clause
jurisprudence that it is no part of the business of government to
compose official prayers." So censoring prayer content to enforce
"non-sectarianism" (as AU and ACLU now demand) violates the Establishment
Clause, creating a neutered state-religion, forcing guest chaplains to convert
and pray to their false government-sanitized god, or face exclusion. That's
clearly unconstitutional, revealing them as enemies of the First Amendment, as
already interpreted by the Supreme Court. I pray concerned North Carolina
citizens explain this to their Fayetteville and Cumberland commissioners. Lets
help these officials find their backbone, before Christians are forced
underground like Chinese churches hiding from Communism. Lets take back our
country, in Jesus' name.
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Gordon James Klingenschmitt is a former Navy chaplain who sacrificed his
career to help change national policy, restoring the rights of military
chaplains to publicly pray "in Jesus' name" even in uniform. "Chaps" travels
to speak at churches, and can be invited via e-mail. He encourages readers to
sign the petition to reinstate Chaplain Danny Harvey, the hospital chaplain
fired for praying in Jesus' name.
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