WASHINGTON (ABP) -- The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty filed legal papers July 6 arguing that inviting religious leaders to invoke sectarian prayers at a North Carolina county's board of commissioners meetings is unconstitutional.

The BJC filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a Jan. 28 ruling by a federal district judge that prayers used to open or solemnize meetings of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The BJC, which represents 15 national and regional Baptist groups on matters related to religious liberty and the separation of church and state, reminded the court of a 1983 Supreme Court decision, Marsh v. Chambers, which found "legislative prayers" constitutional only if they are non-sectarian and do not favor one religion over another.

The BJC brief said that of 33 county board's prayers recorded between May 29, 2007, and Dec. 15, 2008, all but seven contained at least one reference to Jesus Christ and none invoked a deity associated with a faith other than Christianity.

The BJC urged the court to stick with the Marsh precedent used by the Supreme Court. The brief urged rejection of the county's suggestion that the appeals panel abandon the non-sectarian standard and rely instead on a lower-court ruling that the First Amendment does not prohibit sectarian legislative prayers as long as speakers from a variety of faiths are offered the chance to deliver them.

Holly Hollman, the BJC's general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee, said protecting both religion clauses of the First Amendment -- barring the government from either promoting religion or prohibiting its free exercise -- is the way to protect religious liberty for everyone.

"The Supreme Court has upheld legislative prayer, but that should not be misconstrued to allow someone to exploit the prayer opportunity in a way that advances a particular religion," Hollman said. "We all should pray for our government officials, but we should not ask the government to supply a platform to promote religion in a business meeting."

A similar controversy has been brewing in Waco, Texas. After weeks of discussion, McLennan County commissioners voted July 6 to begin their meetings with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

The decision came after commissioners sought legal advice and community input about how to conduct prayers in a way that includes all faiths and protects the county from potential lawsuits.

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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