Editorial: Another voice on prayer

“Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them ... And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

— Matthew 6: 1&5-6

Bible, Revised Standard Version

When the subject of public piety comes up — as it has regarding the Christian prayers county commissioners intone at their meetings — people often debate the founding fathers’ reverence for religion and what they intended with the separation of church and state.

The First Amendment of the Constitution clearly says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

But the words are not really so clear. Are Christian prayers by elected officials “an establishment of religion” if no one is required to join in? Don’t judges effectively “prohibit” elected officials’ free exercise of religion by telling them how they may or may not pray?

The legal answers depend on the court ruling of the moment, and hanging over this moment in North Carolina is a federal decision concerning the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ use of Christian prayer, a ruling very much in keeping with previous decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Forsyth officials were wrong, the appeals court said, to open most of their meetings with overtly sectarian prayers that mentioned Jesus Christ.

“Faith is as deeply important as it is deeply personal,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III in the majority opinion, “and the government should not appear to suggest that some faiths have it wrong and others got it right.”

Rowan County commissioners’ consistent use of Christian prayer at public meetings may discomfort citizens of other faiths, as if commissioners do not represent them. And even Christians can differ on the style and substance of prayers.

Everyone in this country has the right to pray — or not to, if they wish. Sitting in a desk at school, a child can pray for help on a test. Weighing an important vote, a commissioner can pray however he wants for guidance as he prepares for his meeting. It’s in leading groups in public prayer in a government setting that things get sticky.

We’ve heard about the founding fathers, the ACLU and federal judges. If Christian prayer is at the heart of the debate here, then Christians should also consider another voice, the voice of the man who gave the sermon on the mount. “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them,” Jesus said.

Public, official prayer is a complex issue, one many residents wish the ACLU had not brought up. But often the issues you don’t want to deal with are the ones that most need attention. Yes, Rowan is a predominantly Christian county. But not everyone is Christian, and those people have rights. Keep the faith, commissioners, and find a way to respect others’ faith, too.