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Outsiders who oppose, favor Lord's Prayer disagree on legal status
By Phil Trexler Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007
Back in June 1952, Akron City Council members thought enough of the Lord's Prayer to place it among its list of rules and procedures.
And for at least the next 55 years, every meeting of the council started with the recitation of the prayer along with the Pledge of Allegiance.
But all the praying abruptly stopped after Monday's meeting in response to a threat of legal action by a separation-of-church-and-state watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.
But the threat isn't necessarily stopping council members from coming up with a new prayer.
Council President Marco Sommerville said members have enlisted the help of local ministers to create a prayer to whet the religious appetite of some while keeping the council and its members out of court.
For now, at least, council doesn't have a prayer.
''The issue isn't prayer. Prayer is OK, but you can't say the same kind of Christian prayer every time,'' he said. ''But I think if you stop prayer, period, it sends the wrong message out, and we don't want to do that. At the same time, we don't want to get sued.''
The Lord's Prayer, once a government tradition across the nation with roots in the anti-Communism climate of the late 1940s, has been losing popularity as a staple of public meetings. Uses that remain have become the target of criticism and lawsuits.
In Akron, the prayer died this week after council members received a letter from attorneys representing Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Council took the advice of city attorneys and ended the practice, fearing a court fight the city couldn't win would cost the city and council members personally money and time.
Group objects
Barry Lynn, executive director of the Americans United group, said Tuesday that council's action was ''the right thing to do for the community and the right thing to do to preserve the Constitution.''
He said his organization counts 75,000 members nationwide, and someone, he couldn't say who, recently complained to the group about the Akron council's long practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer before every meeting.
Prayers are a legally acceptable practice at a government meeting so long as they don't appear to endorse one religion over another, and Lynn said his group works to maintain that standard across the country.
Letters such as the one sent to the Akron council are among dozens that Americans United issues every year in an effort to maintain the separation standard. Most governments, he said, acquiesce. Others, such as the Ohio General Assembly, come up with a rotation of prayers that includes other religions.
''In general, most local governments want to do the right thing, and they think about it, and they say, 'Ya know, why do we have to do it this way? Couldn't we find a different way to respect everybody who might attend this council meeting,''' Lynn said.
Council members who feel compelled to pray should do it together in private and then come out and do their government work, Lynn said. Christian-based prayers such as the Lord's Prayer exclude people who do not believe in Christ or God, he added.
''There's nothing wrong with the Lord's Prayer as long as you are not doing it as part of your government function,'' he said. ''The problem is, these are official events where you encourage people to attend, including the diverse people of Akron. They're not all Christians, and they should not be presumed to be so.
''Someone shouldn't feel like an outsider because someone in the majority thinks you better sit there and listen to my prayer.''
Law director's view
Akron law director Max Rothal said he could not reveal what advice he gave council members in their closed-door talks Monday about the prayer and the Americans United letter.
But he said the law is clear on the Lord's Prayer.
''There are certain things that have been declared unconstitutional, and the Lord's Prayer is one of them,'' he said. ''It's not a question of prayer being banned. It's just certain prayers.''
Congress maintains a prayer practice in a spiritual, nonsectarian fashion, although challenges from atheist groups have emerged over the years.
Prayers are said in the Ohio General Assembly, and the practice has been discussed or maintained locally in communities including Canton, North Canton and Hartville.
Akron City Council clerk Cheri Prough said Tuesday that her research documents show that prayer in council goes at least as far back as 1952, when members agreed to amend Rule 10 of their rules and procedures policy. She acknowledged that the prayer practice could have begun earlier.
Pro-prayer group
Chris Long of the Ohio Christian Alliance said he was disappointed that Akron City Council acted so quickly in dropping its half-century-old tradition without so much as a meeting to allow public debate.
Unlike the Washington group, Long said the prayer law is not all settled. And although the council may not fight, he said his group intends to seek answers and possibly pursue the challenge on the council's behalf in some fashion.
''Those who would want to silence the expression of any kind of religion or expression of religion in the country, that's certainly a bigotry that needs to be addressed,'' Long said.
''I think this is one for the people to decide. Council is the people's chambers, and to see this action so easily dismissed without any discourse is certainly disheartening.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Back in June 1952, Akron City Council members thought enough of the Lord's Prayer to place it among its list of rules and procedures.
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