Judge: No Christ in state prayers

A federal judge banned using the name Jesus Christ in the regular prayers before the opening of the daily sessions of the Indiana House of Representatives in his ruling on a case brought against the House Speaker Brian Bosma by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.\nJudge David Hamilton based his decision on the Supreme Court's 1983 ruling Marsh v. Chambers that says all prayers before a legislative body must be non-sectarian and not advance a specific religion.\nThe people who pray can make references to God because that refers to most religions, but references to specific religions are banned, said Fran Quigley, the executive director of the ICLU.\nBosma, a Republican, said in a statement that the ruling is an infringement on the freedom of speech of those who deliver the opening prayer. He does not tell them what to say and does not know what they will say beforehand. A Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi have also led the prayer.\nThat argument will not work in court though, Quigley said. Bosma only uses the freedom-of-speech argument in public because he knows it won't work in court.\n"This is not a free speech case," Quigley said. "It's about government speech."\nAll people should feel welcome in the House chambers and this ruling emphasizes that government shouldn't just be for people of a particular faith, Quigley said.\nEven before the ruling, Bosma sent a letter to each person scheduled to deliver the opening prayer stating the prayer should be non-sectarian and sensitive to other religions, said Dave Rodriguez, the pastor at Grace Community Church in Noblesville, Ind., who led the first prayer of this year's session.\nThe new ruling states the instructions should also tell them not to use the name of Jesus Christ or advance any specific religion.\nBosma has not decided if he is going to follow the ruling or if he will appeal the ruling, said his spokesman, Tony Samuel. He has 30 days to file an appeal and is consulting with his lawyers, \nQuigley expects Bosma to comply with the ruling, but if he doesn't, he will be in contempt of court, Quigley said.\nIf Bosma appeals, it will go to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court, said Daniel Conkle, a law professor at IU. But he said the ruling would have a "slim chance" of being overturned.\nDetermining if the prayers are non-sectarian and follow the ruling will require some judgment because the boundaries are not perfectly clear, Conkle said.\n"What counts as an impermissible prayer is an interesting question," Conkle said.\nState Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said she agrees with Bosma that the ruling is an infringement on her freedom of speech. She was mentioned twice in the ICLU complaint which quoted her as saying "and I pray this in the name of Christ."\nShe said she was "disappointed" by the ruling because she tried to be sensitive to people of other faiths and made sure to say "I pray" instead of "we pray." In another prayer she said "for those of us of the Christian faith, we thank you (Lord)."\n"If it is someone of a different religion, and they want to pray in the name of their god, that's fine with me," she said. "They're not praying for me." \nThis is not an issue that splits on Democrat and Republican lines, Welch said. She said she knows of people in both parties who are disappointed by the ruling.\nOne emphasis of the ICLU complaint was when the Rev. Clarence Brown of Bedford's Second Baptist Church gave the prayer April 5 and afterward sang the song, "Just a Little Walk with Jesus." During the song, some legislators and staff members walked out of House chambers because of what they believed was a sectarian display.\nBut Welch said it was just a minister providing some entertainment. People sing all the time and Brown is a minister, so he chose a religious song, she said.