Another court case about public prayer.  Another indignant Christian bristling at the limits of a “free society.”  Another reason for me to shake my head and wonder, “Why does it make so much difference to people, anyway?”

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, there is a city council member who also happens to be a Baptist minister.  A few years ago, he was to offer the opening prayer at a council session, but was prohibited from referring to Jesus in his prayer.  This, of course, “violated his free speech rights, and infringed on his religious beliefs.”  The council has a governing resolution that disallows sectarian prayers. 

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor sat on the bench of the appeals court where the case was argued yesterday.  I guess it’s her privilege to do such a thing as a retired member of the high court.

On the one hand, lawyers argued that anything a council member says during a council session is considered official speech, and is necessarily subject to applicable laws.  The Baptist’s attorney made the point that city government has no constitutional authority over the content of prayers.

All of this once again points to why I feel public prayers in an “official” public setting are akin to taking the Lord’s name in vain.  The prayer has to be watered down, generic, non-offensive to anyone who conceivably might take offense, and comes off as a secular, human-directed slogan not much different from wishful thinking.  Why bother? 

Instead of offering a “prayer,” why doesn’t the chair of the meeting, whatever it is, say something along the lines of, “Let’s all do our best here today to live up to the highest standards of conduct and behavior so we can do what is best and right for our community.”  Isn’t that what they are after anyway? 

If they want to bring God into their processes, they might better think twice, because God isn’t all that enthralled with worldly power, be it economic, political or social.  God isn’t interested in expedient and artful compromises or in the maintenance of human-made structures by which some “have” while others don’t.

To me it just reflects yet another attempt to domesticate God, and to urge God to bless what we want, what we intend to do, and how we see humanity and the world, which generally is pretty self-serving.

Prayer – wherever it is offered in sincerity and openness to God – is not about manipulating and controlling God.  It is about a relationship with the One who sees so much more for our lives than we can ever imagine ourselves.