4.25.2008
South Carolina Attempts to Bypass Prayer Restrictions
A hot-button issue in conflicts concerning the separation of church and state is sectarian prayer before a governmental body. Since Darla Wynne's final legal victory in 2005 forcing the South Carolina town of Great Falls to abandon sectarian prayers to Jesus, conservative Christian opponents in the state have been looking for a way around the ruling. Last year, with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, state legislators introduced a "Public Prayer and Invocation Act". A law designed to circumvent sectarian restrictions, and make it harder for litigation against sectarian prayer to win.
"It becomes clear from reading the bill that its authors are trying to navigate the legal waters created by two cases involving Wiccans and public prayers: Darla Wynne (a resident of South Carolina who won her case against Great Falls) and Cynthia Simpson (a Virginia resident who ultimately lost hers). In other words, they are trying to bring back prayers to Jesus at government meetings without the lawsuits ... if this bill becomes law, the Darla Wynnes of this world can't sue the local city council for exclusively praying to Jesus without bringing litigation against the entire state. Its clear that the authors are hoping that their emphasis on context will win over content (ie Jesus), and in turn create a legal fog of what can or can't be allowed."
Now that bill has made it through the South Carolina senate, and is heading to the house.
"The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would allow prayers before public meetings. In 2001, a Wiccan priestess sued the town of Great Falls, claiming it violated the separation between church and state when "Jesus Christ" was used in prayer. The town lost the lawsuit. This legislation says public bodies can adopt policies to let members take turns giving an invocation, elect a chaplain, or create a pool of speakers from faith groups to offer the prayer. The bill also calls for the state attorney general to defend public bodies if they face constitutional challenges. The public prayer bill now heads to the House."
Since the Republican party in the South Carolina House of Representatives has a commanding 22-member majority, it seems very likely this bill will soon head to governor Mark Sanford's desk. Sanford, while occasionally displaying a libertarian streak, tends to make conservative Christians happy and is likely to sign the bill into law. If this happens, the resulting legal mess could take decades to untangle, all to the benefit of Christians wanting to re-introduce sectarian prayers to Jesus.
"It intentionally gives no direction on whether a prayer can mention a deity, instead suggesting boards seek local legal advice on that. "I think this might actually add to the constitutional confusion," said professor Josie Brown of the University of South Carolina Law School."
In short, South Carolina is trying to undo Darla Wynne's victory, reinstate Christian prayer through a legal fog, and make it extremely difficult for litigation to be brought against a local legislative body (since any such case would instantly be taken up by the state). This is all part of a larger plan instituted by Christian conservative groups to chip away at the legal victories won by religious minorities and secular groups in the last thirty years.
Student speech "protection" laws, ordinances banning psychics, attempts to dominate chaplaincy positions (in prisons and the military), arbitrary laws concerning animal sacrifice, a rigorous defense of evangelists who cross the line, battles over public religious displays, and the enshrinement of Christianity as the official faith of America all point to a larger trend of fighting and rolling back advances religious minorities have made in the name of their "religious freedom". Killing real religious freedom and full access of all faiths to the public square with a thousand tiny cuts instead of single mighty stroke.
Labels: Alliance Defense Fund, Christianity, Darla Wynne, law, litigation, Paganism, prayer, Religious Freedom, South Carolina
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