Blog from the Capital

I forget, which part of Scripture is it that invites the devout to make a public spectacle of their prayers to Christ? Dismissed former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt -- much like the traveling sideshow that became of Alabama's Judge Roy Moore after his Ten Commandments courthouse monument was rebuffed by courts -- is looking to cross the country to demonstrate his prayers "in Jesus' name" under the seal of government.

Via Religion Clause, WorldNetDaily has the story, which begins in Kentucky.

Just one week after his dismissal from the Navy was completed, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt also prayed "in Jesus' name" on the floor of the Kentucky Legislature, where the state house then passed a unanimous resolution to honor Navy chaplains who pray in Jesus' name.
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Klingenschmitt told WND that he plans now to embark on a 50-state tour, to pray "in Jesus' name" at each state Legislature, and is seeking church and legislative sponsors for his work.

State legislatures are not the place for overtly sectarian prayers. Those are official houses, representative of all the people encompasing many faiths and no faith at all. Any prayers should seek to be inclusive of the many faiths in our country, all of which are guaranteed protection by the Constitution. Instead, spectacles like this one seem designed to be exclusive of non-Christian faiths and to implicate legislative favor for Christianity over other religions.

I can absolutely understand why a Christian minister would not want to pray publicly in such restrictive settings or in such broad inclusive terms. Such ministers should think twice before agreeing to offer such ceremonial public prayers, or, for that matter, before agreeing to be a military chaplain. The free exercise rights of public officials do not outweigh the rights of all of us to be free of a governmental promotion of specific religions or specific religious beliefs.