In October 2010 Bulverde resident and AUSA member Sandi Root sought assistance from AU in an effort to end a city council tradition of using Christian prayer to open meetings [as shown in the photo by Herald-Zeitung’s Laura McKenzie] AUSA President Eric F. Lane posted to several area newspapers, the text of which is shown…
Government is generally forbidden to deliver, sponsor, orchestrate, or encourage prayers. Since the nation’s founding, however, many legislatures have traditionally opened their meetings with prayer. Given this historical tradition, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that legislative prayers are constitutionally permissible if, but only if, they do not use language or symbols specific to one…
The National Day of Prayer (NDP) is not historical. It was created by Congress in 1952 during the anti-communist hysteria that gripped our nation. The scheduling of the event used to change but it was codified by Congress in 1988 (after pressure from the Religious Right) as the first Thursday in May. This year the…