Who really won?

[theophilus]

The town council of Greece, New York, opens its meetings with prayer. Recently two residents of the town filed a lawsuit to end this practice and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court. Here is the Court’s decision as reported by Fox News.

The Supreme Court has upheld the right of local officials to open town council meetings with prayer, ruling that this does not violate the Constitution even if the prayers routinely stress Christianity.

The court said in a 5-4 decision Monday that the content of the prayers is not critical as long as officials make a good-faith effort at inclusion.

The ruling was a victory for the town of Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester.

At first glance this seems to be the kind of ruling that Christians should welcome. Before reaching this conclusion we should look at the reason the justices reached their decision.

“The prayer opportunity in this case must be evaluated against the backdrop of historical practice,” the majority wrote in its opinion. “As a practice that has long endured, legislative prayer has become part of our heritage and tradition, part of our expressive idiom, similar to the Pledge of Allegiance, inaugural prayer, or the recitation of ‘God save the United States and this honorable Court’ at the opening of this Court’s sessions.”

The majority justices further argued that the intended audience is not “the public, but lawmakers themselves.”

It is clear from this that the kind of prayer approved by the court isn’t a sincere attempt to communicate with God but a ceremony that is intended to please people. Here is what Jesus said about that kind of prayer.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:5 ESV

It would be better not to have public prayers at all than to practice the kind of prayer that Jesus condemned. The ruling was a defeat for Christians, not a victory.

Instead of trying to promote public prayer by government bodies we should do what the Bible tells us.

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV

If we prayed regularly for our leaders it wouldn’t matter whether or not government meetings opened with prayer. Churches could encourage this kind of prayer by announcing council meetings, school board meetings, and other government activities in their bulletins. This would remind their members to pray about them.

Unbelievers who try to eliminate any kind of religious expression by the government are tools used by Satan to carry out his plans but his objectives aren’t always the same as theirs. The residents who filed the lawsuit failed to accomplish their objective. I think that Satan succeeded in accomplishing his. He was the real winner.