Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Support independent, faith-based journalism. Donate
Search Search this site

SCOTUS got this one wrong

OpinionGeorge Bullard  |  May 12, 2014

With all due respect to my blogging colleague, Jonathan Waits and his blog post, the US Supreme Court got the decision wrong about the town of Greece, NY and their ceremonial prayers.

How prayers are handled in government sponsored settings is a forever issue. While I was not truly aware of the controversy until the 1960s Supreme Court cases that excluded required opening religious exercises, Bible reading, and prayer from each morning in public schools, that was now a half century ago.

I wrote a blog on this subject 18 months ago—50 Years of Confusion About School Prayer. This post talks about my personal presence in or near two of the three Supreme Court cases that were deliberated and decided on in 1962 and 1963.

More About My Journey

Having grown up primarily in the Baltimore, MD I was significantly influenced by the Washington, DC mindset—particularly Baptist perspectives on the separation of church and state. My father was a Baptist minister and in personal conversations with him I learned a deep respect for various issues of religious liberty.

People I came to know growing up were deeply involved in religious liberty issues. This included our close friend Gene Puckett who was for a while the Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. I am old enough to remember when it was called Protestants and Other Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

I met on several occasions Emmanuel Carlson who was executive director from 1954-1971 of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs [now Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty] from 1954-1971. I regularly read the Report from the Capital.

Baltimore—then later Philadelphia—was a very diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious place to grow up. My schools were integrated from our elementary school forward. A basic respect for other cultures and belief systems came natural to me, although each new experience brought new learning and challenges.

One challenge was when as president of the Bible Club my senior year of high school just north of Philadelphia, PA I was asked to give voice to an invocation for 500 people when the National Association of Student Councils [NASC] met our my high school. Yes, my high school was a government school. The Bible Club was a voluntary group that met after school hours in the school facilities. The NASC is not a government organization. It was simply meeting in a government facility.

I was instructed that I had to write out my prayer and have it approved by our student council advisor/teacher. She said I could not pray “in Jesus name”. I was upset. I had to pray about that. I talked about it with my father. I wrote the prayer. It was approved. I spoke the prayer out of Christian commitment and with full respect for the various religious convictions represented in the room.

Back to SCOTUS

None of this means I am an expert on Supreme Court decisions and constitutional interpretations of the Establishment Cause. I will leave that dry subject to others.

What it does mean is that I live with a conviction that we ought to work hard for the separation of church and state and for religious liberty for all faiths if we are going to be a truly free nation. That is both my citizenship position and my Christian position. Therefore, I believe religious liberty for all faiths means we will seek a higher ground of faith that does not require or ask for the permission of government to express our faith through prayer.

Government-sponsored or endorsed ceremonial prayers are often less than genuine prayers. They are just that—ceremony. They call for the blessing of God on what at worse could become a form of theocracy akin to various expressions of dominion theology.

I generally affirm the principle of community standards. However, that too often assumes that community standards are static rather than dynamic. Prayer is good. Whose prayer may be debatable when a community context transitions demographically.

I hope—and yes I pray—the officials of the town of Greece, NY pray regularly as individuals and in their faith communities that God will give them spiritual wisdom individually and collectively as they seek to make wise decisions in their political setting.

As for ceremonial public prayers connected with their gatherings, let’s forgo the inauthentic and perfunctory nature that too often accompany such ceremony and get on with loving the people whom God created. Let us wisely seeking higher ground in our governance deliberations and decisions.


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:Religious LibertyGeorge Bullardministerseparation of church and stateChristianPrayerBaptist Joint Committee for Religious LibertyJonathan WaitsBiblePublic PolicyBaptistBaptist Joint CommitteeLawSupreme CourtBaltimoreschoolsAmericans United for the Separation of Church and StateGene PuckettSCOTUSgovernmentUS Supreme CourtWashington DCChurch of God--General Conferenceceremonial prayerscitizenshipdominion theologyEmmanual CarlsonEstablishment ClauseGreece NYNational Association of Student CouncilsPhildelphiapryaerstheocracyWashington D.C.
George Bullard
More by
George Bullard
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      Opinion

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      News

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      Opinion

    • What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic

      Analysis


    Curated

    • Lawmaker pushes for 3rd time to make Bible the state book of Tennessee

      Lawmaker pushes for 3rd time to make Bible the state book of Tennessee

      March 5, 2021
    • A Third Of Gen Z Doesn’t Trust People Of Other Religions, But They’re Willing To Try

      A Third Of Gen Z Doesn’t Trust People Of Other Religions, But They’re Willing To Try

      March 5, 2021
    • Faith Leaders Urge Missouri Not to Create “Rush Limbaugh Day”

      Faith Leaders Urge Missouri Not to Create “Rush Limbaugh Day”

      March 5, 2021
    • Brian Houston apologizes for Hillsong NYC’s ‘failings,’ promises whistleblower policy

      Brian Houston apologizes for Hillsong NYC’s ‘failings,’ promises whistleblower policy

      March 5, 2021
    Read Next:

    Free Lenten daily devotionals offered

    NewsBNG staff

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • Students and alumni express concern about restructuring of OBU’s storied music program

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Pandemic plans: Keep on coping

      OpinionDavid Jordan

    • Learning to breathe in the Spirit by confessing, ‘I can’t breathe’

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • Does landmark religious freedom legislation need a fix or is it fine as is?

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • How to follow a leader

      OpinionPaula Mangum Sheridan

    • Black Baptist women in ministry and the principality of patriarchy

      OpinionAidsand Wright-Riggins

    • Author of Eugene Peterson biography was one of many shaped by America’s pastor

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 3-5-21

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Evangelicals are in trouble: Reclaiming ‘Oberlinism” could bring some redemption

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • U.S. agency calls for more religious freedom in Nigeria

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Repressing my sexual orientation cost me my health — permanently

      OpinionAmber Cantorna

    • World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • The charismatic story is part of the Baptist story, historian contends

      NewsPat Cole

    • Finding charity amidst the chaos one year into the coronavirus pandemic

      OpinionCurtis Ramsey-Lucas

    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • Rural churches need to understand the cultural capital of their communities

      AnalysisBrian Foreman and Justin Nelson

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • Students and alumni express concern about restructuring of OBU’s storied music program

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Author of Eugene Peterson biography was one of many shaped by America’s pastor

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 3-5-21

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • U.S. agency calls for more religious freedom in Nigeria

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The charismatic story is part of the Baptist story, historian contends

      NewsPat Cole

    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Some Methodist churches finding greater mission results with simplified governance

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Diverse religious coalition urges Congress to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • LGBTQ inclusion and clergy sexual abuse treated equally in SBC expulsions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • As people walk away from the church in droves, Russ Dean hopes to tell the old story in a new way

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The strange saga of the Riley Foundation lawsuit now forces SBC to figure out who has the right to remove a seminary trustee

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • In-person worship dropped in January as more churches were directly affected by COVID

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Caldwell succeeds Anderson as chair of BNG board

      NewsBNG staff

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Final vote sounds the death knell for capital punishment in Virginia

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Reeves to lead Fellowship Southwest

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Three years later, Leah Sharibu is still held captive, reportedly for refusing to renounce her faith

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Wake Forest Divinity gets $5 million grant to help combat HIV/AIDS

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Pandemic plans: Keep on coping

      OpinionDavid Jordan

    • Learning to breathe in the Spirit by confessing, ‘I can’t breathe’

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • How to follow a leader

      OpinionPaula Mangum Sheridan

    • Black Baptist women in ministry and the principality of patriarchy

      OpinionAidsand Wright-Riggins

    • Evangelicals are in trouble: Reclaiming ‘Oberlinism” could bring some redemption

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Repressing my sexual orientation cost me my health — permanently

      OpinionAmber Cantorna

    • How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Finding charity amidst the chaos one year into the coronavirus pandemic

      OpinionCurtis Ramsey-Lucas

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Why vote to fund something you won’t ever use?

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth

      OpinionJordan Conley

    • Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Canada labels Uyghur repression ‘genocide,’ but that’s not as exemplary as you might think

      OpinionRay Mwareya

    • About disfellowshipping churches based on the ‘clear’ teaching of Scripture

      OpinionDalen Jackson

    • What the SBC should learn from the Ravi Zacharias tragedy

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • The Black church and the salvation of the world

      OpinionPaul Robeson Ford

    • St. Benedict and a two-fold path for the church In America

      OpinionH. Stephen Shoemaker

    • What if we cared about Black History Month as much as Lent?

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Prophecy is obedient imagination

      OpinionAlan Bean

    • How much wealth does America need before we’ll address homelessness?

      OpinionMichael Chancellor

    • Why we need to talk about abortion

      OpinionRuss Dean

    • How travel and food break through barriers that divide us

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Lawmaker pushes for 3rd time to make Bible the state book of Tennessee

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A Third Of Gen Z Doesn’t Trust People Of Other Religions, But They’re Willing To Try

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Faith Leaders Urge Missouri Not to Create “Rush Limbaugh Day”

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Brian Houston apologizes for Hillsong NYC’s ‘failings,’ promises whistleblower policy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Myanmar’s Christian refugees hold anti-coup protest in India

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Tanzania’s President Focused on Prayer as Coronavirus Cases Climbed

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • After Ravi Zacharias report, Christians examine how to avoid ‘betrayal blindness’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why a Catholic journalist is urging the church to engage Black Lives Matter

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ravi Zacharias’s Denomination Revokes Ordination

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Disinformation Fuels A White Evangelical Movement. It Led 1 Virginia Pastor To Quit

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Rush Limbaugh, who shaped conservative Christian politics on the radio, has died

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Dallas faith groups help shelter homeless Texans during deep freeze

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • SBU Trustees Reverse Some Tenure/Promotion Denials

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • U.S. Supreme Court sides with Alabama death row inmate, declines to lift stay of execution over state’s refusal to allow clergy in chamber

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survey: Black Americans attend church and pray more often

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Christian Bookstores Survived 2020

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Celebrating Ash Wednesday in a pandemic? There’s an app for that

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • From ‘Lent-in-a-box’ to ‘ash n dash’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • No execution: Courts side with inmate wanting pastor present

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New Arkansas Law Exempts Churches from Pandemic Restrictions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2021 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS