Craig Zimmerman
2013-07-31 04:13:04 UTC
SALT LAKE CITY Rev. Father Elias Koucos, chairman of the Salt Lake City
Interfaith Roundtable, looks forward to hearing the Supreme Court's ruling
on prayer in public meetings next year. He hopes a ruling will initiate
dialogue about the role prayer can play in government meetings.
In a public setting, allowing for multiple forms of prayer and religious
discourse can serve as a vehicle for fellowship, camaraderie, respect and
love, Rev. Koucos said.
"It's a good way to start a day," he said, "or any kind of meeting."
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear such a case this
fall. Town of Greece v. Galloway questions a tradition of beginning town
board meetings with prayer in the upstate New York town of Greece, where
city officials have regularly opened government meetings with prayers.
The city found itself in trouble and in court last year, when a pair
of residents brought complaints against the city not because the
meetings began with prayer, but because city officials had asked
representatives of Christian denominations to offer those prayers, to the
exclusion of other faiths.
From 1999 to 2010, city officials began nearly every meeting with a
Christian-oriented prayer. The only exception to the rule, according to
the The Washington Post, was in 2008, when prayers were offered by a
Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess, and the chairman of the local Bahai
congregation following complaints.
Last year, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that requesting
Christian prayers the majority of the time had the effect of affiliating
the town government with a specific religion in direct violation of the
First Amendment, according to Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog.
"The Supreme Courts agreement to review the decision might be interpreted
as an indication that the Justices could be preparing to make a major
pronouncement on religion in the public sphere," Denniston wrote, "but it
also might be understood as an intent to focus solely on the specific
facts of the practice as it unfolded in this one community."
The Circuit Court ruling stressed that its decision was not based on the
constitutionality of prayer at public meetings in general, but instead
addressed the Greece town board's bias toward Christian-oriented prayers.
It also stated that it was not adopting a specific test for when prayers
are appropriate, according to SCOTUSblog's Denniston.
The Supreme Court's ruling is expected in 2014. This fall will be the
first time the Supreme Court has heard a case on the constitutionality of
opening public meetings with prayer since 1983.
Regardless of the case's outcome, it stands to impact believers and
community leaders in Utah.
Members of the audience are regularly invited to share a prayer, thought
or reading at the opening of weekly commission meetings in Utah County,
County Commissioner Doug Whitney said.
"I don't think you could put a finger on what religion is represented,"
Whitney said. Rather, he said, inviting religious thought into public
meetings reminds him that "we all need help."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865580396/Supreme-Court-to-hear-case-
on-prayer-in-public-meetings-this-fall.html
Interfaith Roundtable, looks forward to hearing the Supreme Court's ruling
on prayer in public meetings next year. He hopes a ruling will initiate
dialogue about the role prayer can play in government meetings.
In a public setting, allowing for multiple forms of prayer and religious
discourse can serve as a vehicle for fellowship, camaraderie, respect and
love, Rev. Koucos said.
"It's a good way to start a day," he said, "or any kind of meeting."
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear such a case this
fall. Town of Greece v. Galloway questions a tradition of beginning town
board meetings with prayer in the upstate New York town of Greece, where
city officials have regularly opened government meetings with prayers.
The city found itself in trouble and in court last year, when a pair
of residents brought complaints against the city not because the
meetings began with prayer, but because city officials had asked
representatives of Christian denominations to offer those prayers, to the
exclusion of other faiths.
From 1999 to 2010, city officials began nearly every meeting with a
Christian-oriented prayer. The only exception to the rule, according to
the The Washington Post, was in 2008, when prayers were offered by a
Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess, and the chairman of the local Bahai
congregation following complaints.
Last year, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that requesting
Christian prayers the majority of the time had the effect of affiliating
the town government with a specific religion in direct violation of the
First Amendment, according to Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog.
"The Supreme Courts agreement to review the decision might be interpreted
as an indication that the Justices could be preparing to make a major
pronouncement on religion in the public sphere," Denniston wrote, "but it
also might be understood as an intent to focus solely on the specific
facts of the practice as it unfolded in this one community."
The Circuit Court ruling stressed that its decision was not based on the
constitutionality of prayer at public meetings in general, but instead
addressed the Greece town board's bias toward Christian-oriented prayers.
It also stated that it was not adopting a specific test for when prayers
are appropriate, according to SCOTUSblog's Denniston.
The Supreme Court's ruling is expected in 2014. This fall will be the
first time the Supreme Court has heard a case on the constitutionality of
opening public meetings with prayer since 1983.
Regardless of the case's outcome, it stands to impact believers and
community leaders in Utah.
Members of the audience are regularly invited to share a prayer, thought
or reading at the opening of weekly commission meetings in Utah County,
County Commissioner Doug Whitney said.
"I don't think you could put a finger on what religion is represented,"
Whitney said. Rather, he said, inviting religious thought into public
meetings reminds him that "we all need help."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865580396/Supreme-Court-to-hear-case-
on-prayer-in-public-meetings-this-fall.html