I’m still flabbergasted at the naiveté—or perhaps lack of
experience in the world—displayed by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in
his majority opinion upholding the right of upstate New York government
officials to say Christian prayers before town meetings.
Kennedy writes that the case comes down to whether people
are offended by the prayers. His widely quoted words are 1,000% wrong: “Adults often encounter speech they find disagreeable…Legislative bodies do not engage in impermissible coercion merely by exposing constituents to prayer they would rather not hear and in which they need not participate.”
Maybe he should have asked Jews, Muslims or atheists what
they feel. I’m quite certain that many,
if not most, will tell you that they feel oppressed and assaulted by prayers
that invoke Christ or a Christian god at a public or government meeting. Many
also feel angry and betrayed by those allowing and enabling prayers for one
religion in what is supposed to be a secular and diverse society.
I personally have encountered maybe 20 situations in my life
in which clergy or lay people have offered public prayers for one
religion—always a form of Christianity—at a public event. And every single time, I have complained,
usually joined by others. Why? A
combination of a deep feeling of oppression and an understanding that we live
in a secular society.
My earliest example was when the coach of my high school
football team in Miami, Florida, would ask a member of the clergy to give a
prayer before every game. The clergy were mostly Christian, with an occasional
rabbi; it was long before the days of Islamic or Buddhist awareness. The
prayers were almost always quite ecumenical, with some clergymen not even
mentioning a deity. But one time, a preacher invoked Christ several times. The
three Jewish members of the team (the other two of whom made All City; I was a
scrub) hit the roof. We felt so angry and betrayed by our coach, an otherwise
wonderful man, Frank Downey, who had actually played on the same high school
football team as my father years before. Coach Downey made sure it never
happened again.
When you are different from the majority or from what is
considered the social norm, it always feels a little bit like you don’t really
belong, whether you a different color, a different nationality or a different
religion. The majority culture impinges on everything—think of the hype and the
displays of Christmas season, of the Christian holidays that have become
national holidays like St. Valentine’s Day or All Hallow’s Eve or of the many
times politicians talk about their Christian faith. Imagine being a Moslem and
trying to explain to your children why you don’t exchange presents the morning
of December 25.
Luckily, our constitution and the first amendment guarantee
religious freedom and a secular society. I personally believe that a correct
reading of the Constitution would prohibit every type of prayer before government
meetings, let alone prayer to a specific deity.
I suggest that Justice Kennedy try to walk a mile in someone
else’s shoes for a few hours. He might
change his mind about what he considers to be coercive or oppressive.
Someday we will get a Supreme Court which is dedicated to interpreting the Constitution and not to completing the Reagan right-wing agenda. Maybe then, this awful Supreme Court decision will be reversed.
Someday we will get a Supreme Court which is dedicated to interpreting the Constitution and not to completing the Reagan right-wing agenda. Maybe then, this awful Supreme Court decision will be reversed.
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