Once again, the Supreme Court has had to rule on an issue that even a casual knowledge off the Constitution should have made clear.
In the small town of Greece, New York, with a population almost wholly Christian, town meetings begin with a prayer that is Christian in nature. No one is forced to participate in that prayer. Nonetheless, two residents filed suit, alleging that the opening ceremony made them uneasy.
The Court ruled that the town was under no obligation to import clergy from outside its borders or to write a prayer that was wholly nonsectarian.
The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights begins with the phrase: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Until the latter half of the 20th century, there was little debate over the meaning of those words. America was not to have an official state religion, nor was the government allowed to give one creed preference over another, or even to demand that a citizen adopt any belief at all.
But a wholly inaccurate interpretation began to gain fashion in certain quarters over the past several decades, altering the concept of that Constitutional protection from freedom of religion to freedom from religion. Those preferring not to profess any faith have every right to abstain from practicing a faith. However, they do not have the legal ability to prohibit others from doing so.