This coming weekend the US will pause to remember those whose lives
were lost so tragically in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Adding fuel to the growing fires of public debate over the role of
religion in public life, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his
decision not to include prayers for the official event.
Theory is tested in specific cases, and this is one more opportunity to
wrestle with a larger question. It’s one thing when a political leader
has to choose a clerical representative out of an array of Christian
denominations. Today, however, representing the religious diversity of
the Republic in public ceremonies is more complicated.
On one hand, this is a constitutional issue. Especially given the
history of civil religion in America, it’s implausible to imagine that
the nation’s founders ever intended anything like the separation of
religion and public life that the mantra “separation of church and
state” has come to embody. On the other hand, it is a theological
issue. In other words, even if Mayor Bloomberg has no constitutional
reason to avoid the liturgical interjections in public commemorations
that were included by his predecessor, the debate returns us to a
recurring question of decisive importance to Christians. It’s not a
question of whether prayer at public occasions of this kind is
sanctioned by our Constitution, but, for Christians at least, whether we
can participate (much less encourage) such acts of “non-sectarian”
worship.
In a recent USA Today opinion piece, Jay Sekulow, a Christian
activist and chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice,
reproved Mayor Bloomberg for his decision (see the piece here).
Recounting the history of national days of prayer, including the
inter-religious “Prayer for America” event at Yankee Stadium in the
aftermath of 9/11, Mr. Sekulow’s call betrays assumptions about prayer
that, in my view, can only trivialize this sacred act in the long run. Keep Reading...
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