By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel
There are many reasons the government should not be in the prayer business. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” as the First Amendment begins, immediately comes to mind. Legal issues aside, media stories about the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma vividly demonstrate two practical reasons.
First, we are a religiously diverse country, not united in our religious beliefs or practices. Attempts to fit us all in one religious tent always fail. Second, religious belief is not hampered by the constitutional prohibition on government-sponsored prayer. Many religious people understand and support the religious freedom that protects individual religious expression but does not use government authority to impose those beliefs on others.
Our diversity was on display in the CNN interview of Rebecca Vitsmun, a survivor of the tornado that ripped through her hometown of Moore, Okla. As Vitsmun stood among the rubble, holding a small child, anchor Wolf Blitzer commented on her decision to leave her house right before the tornado hit and asked, “You’ve gotta thank the Lord, right?” As if trying to get the proverbial “amen” for his assumption about how one responds to surviving a natural disaster, Blitzer repeated, “Do you thank the Lord for that split-second decision?” Vitsmun hesitated for a second, then smiled warmly and responded by saying, “I — I am actually an atheist.” Joining Blitzer’s sort of half-laugh as if to politely excuse his faux pas, she added, “And you know, I don’t — I don’t blame anybody for thanking the Lord.” Vitsmun provided a welcome face for the statistics that say about 20 percent of the general U.S. population are unaffiliated with a particular belief, with around 5 percent characterizing themselves as either atheist or agnostic.
Next, there was the report reminding us that religion is not harmed by the prohibition on school-sponsored prayer in public schools. Like many of the heroic public servants who regularly protect our children, school employees in the two schools that were in the path of the tornadoes responded quickly and with great courage. In recounting her experience, elementary school teacher Rhonda Crosswhite showed that protecting and calming the children in her care were her priorities. When describing the tornado that tore through her school, she explained on “NBC Nightly News” how she gathered the students together in the safest place. She then told the reporter, “And I did the teacher thing that we’re probably not supposed to do — I prayed. And I prayed out loud. I said, ‘God, please don’t take these kids today.’” Her prayer was clearly a spontaneous, heartfelt response to the situation. It stands in stark contrast to the kind of unconstitutional teacher-led prayer in public schools that would damage public trust and violate the religious liberty of students. Neither teachers, nor students, nor religion itself is harmed by the religious liberty principles that apply to public schools.
Just under the surface of these honest — and in some ways ordinary — expressions of our country’s religious landscape, however, was evidence that people are quick to pick fights over religion. While atheist groups celebrated Vitsmun’s interview and used it to raise money toward the rebuilding of her home, talk show host Glenn Beck suggested the interview was manufactured to promote atheism and harm religion. Soon after the tornado hit two schools, a rumor spread that a teacher was fired for praying with her students. The school had to issue a statement, which called the accusation “offensive and insulting” and revealed that people who believed the rumor had sent “angry and threatening messages” to the school.
While conflicts over the role of religion in society will persist, we are fortunate. Our country protects religious freedom and preserves the religious peace by keeping the government out of the religion business, protecting the rights of the religious and non-religious alike. As we witnessed in Oklahoma, our religious diversity and devotion can be protected and are not threatened by limits on government advancement of religion. Voluntary expressions of faith, unprompted by reporters or coerced by public officials, demonstrate the vitality of religion.
Shouldn’t prayer be left to the voluntary impulses of individuals and faith communities?
From the June 2013 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
