Suit filed to stop Inauguration prayers
Perhaps this news will lower the temperature of the controversy surrounding the President-elect's invitation to Pastor Rick Warren to give the Invocation at his Inaugural celebration. A group of atheists have filed to block the ceremony from including any prayers at all.
beliefnet reports:
Michael Newdow, along with 17 other individuals and 10 groups representing atheists, named Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., officials in charge of inaugural festivities, the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery and pastor Rick Warren in their complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington Tuesday, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.Roberts will administer the oath of office to Obama at the Jan. 20 event. Warren and Lowery are scheduled to deliver the invocation and benediction, respectively.
The lawsuit says the prayers are exclusionary, "showing absolute disrespect to plaintiffs and others of similar religious views ... ."
Newdow and others also said the phrase "so help me God" should be stricken because it is not part of the oath as specified in the Constitution.
It is unlikely that this lawsuit is going anywhere. Too bad, since the plaintiffs are right. As evidence, I cite the fate of the suit in the Ninth District objecting to “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. People are all for freedom of religion and separation of church and state as long as they see their own religion as privileged. Episcopalians would do well to take up these causes with integrity, which would advance true freedom of religion and would result in both better government and better churches. I won’t hold my breath.
Lionel Deimel
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January 1, 2009 2:42 PM