San Marcos TX City Council & Prayer

The city of San Marcos, Texas, has been committing the terrible affront of opening their city council meetings with a prayer. It will come as no surprise that this has drawn complaints from Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas. They are claiming that this is a constitutional infringement.

I suppose that might come as a surprise to the members of our first Congress, who wrote the Constitution. They opened their first official meeting with a three-hour prayer! The ACLU and AU point to some court cases where such practices have been deemed inappropriate. I have no doubt that some courts have so decided. However, I also have no doubt that many courts would laugh at such a complaint. At least, they would if they knew the Constitution's intentions and the founders' clear statements and actions.

The ACLU and AU do not just want a prayer that is non sectarian, because they say that will offend those who practice no religion. So the very idea of a prayer to God is wrong because an atheist might be offended. That sets aside the fact that our national motto is "In God we trust" and that God is referenced in the last stanza of the National Anthem (of course, we always sing only the first verse, so maybe that doesn't count). Or that every President who gave an inaugural address made a reference to God. Or that all 50 state constitutions reference God. Or that President FDR even led the nation in prayer on a national radio broadcast before D-Day.

Then there is the Texas Constitution, which says in part:

"Humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God, the People of the State of Texas do ordain and establish this Constitution."

Read the whole story on San Marcos here:

NewsStreamz.com