'Distinctly Christian' Lord's Prayer Banned in Delaware Council Meetings

Religion Today | Published: May 25, 2012

'Distinctly Christian' Lord's Prayer Banned in Delaware Council Meetings

A U.S. district court judge in Delaware ruled that members of a local city council who had been reciting the Lord's Prayer at every meeting for six years must stop because it violated the Constitution, the Christian Post reports. Four Sussex County residents filed suit last year, claiming the prayer violated the First Amendment. The city council argued that the Lord's Prayer was not exclusive to Christianity since it did not make a specific reference to Jesus, but judge Leonard P. Stark said in his decision, "The fact that the Lord's Prayer has been the only prayer recited at the beginning of council meetings for over six years is likely to be found to demonstrate that the council gives Christianity an unconstitutionally preferred status." Judge Stark's injunction to stop the prayer takes effect June 15, meaning that any council meetings after that date that begin with the Lord's Prayer would be in violation of the order. "Whatever happened to freedom of speech?" asked councilman Sam Wilson. "I don't know how we're gonna get around it, but we're gonna have to find a way."

'Distinctly Christian' Lord's Prayer Banned in Delaware Council Meetings