Written by Don Byrd
Via Religion Clause, a lawsuit has been filed in Carroll County, Maryland, over the County Commission’s practice of opening meetings with sectarian prayer. Commissioners lead the prayer on a rotating basis. The Complaint alleges the prayers are often explicitly Christian.
According to the legal filing, prayers containing the Christian references “Jesus,” “Lord” and “Savior” were delivered on more than 50 separate occasions at board meetings held during 2011 and 2012. In March 2012, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center of the American Humanist Association sent a letter to the Board of County Commissioners explaining how such prayers are unconstitutional. No reply was received.
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According to the complaint, the plaintiffs in the case find the sectarian prayers “divisive and exclusionary, leaving them to conclude that they are unwelcome at Board meetings and political outsiders in their own community.”
Commissioners like those representing Carroll County would like to believe they act only on their own behalf when they conduct official business meetings. But that is not the case. Official government business impacts and represents all constituents, reflecting a wide range of religious belief and non-belief. While the Supreme Court has allowed ceremonial prayer to consecrate legislative sessions, such prayers – if they must be delivered – should be inclusive and non-sectarian.
