Daily Quote: Supreme Court Sanctions Jesus Talk in Town Halls

Here's a handy little reminder: back in 1802, it was God-fearing founding father Thomas Jefferson who first advocated for a "wall of separation" between church and state. Flash forward to a couple centuries later, and this wall has been sledge-hammered into oblivion by our esteemed Supreme Court.

In a narrow 5-4 decision, Justices have decided that it's A-OK for secular town hall meetings to kick off with prayer time. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy made this decision sound positively quaint, saying:

Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that...many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond that authority of government to alter or define.

Sounds lovely, Justice, but what about people who don't feel the ceremonial tug of prayer? And how do you account for the fact that these prayers are typically led by Christians, excluding all those who understand their existence according to a different religious authority?

Indeed, the case was brought to the court by citizens of Greece, New York, who were offended by the fact that every. time. they went to engage in local politics—they were forced to listen to an almost-always Christian "chaplain of the month" espouse religious doctrine, including references to the "saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross."

This kind of Jesus fever is more than awkward for non-Christians at town hall. As Justice Elena Kagen noted in her dissent of the SCOTUS position, town hall prayer "put some residents to the unenviable choice of either pretending to pray like the majority, or declining to join its communal activity, at the very moment of petitioning their elected leaders.”

The Supreme Court decision, and Kennedy's ignorant defense of it, are so ridiculous, we kind of want to march down to our local town hall to complain. Except, of course, that if we did, we might have to thump some bibles and scream "hallelujah" first.

Image: ThinkStock

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