Virginia City Councilman Fights Court’s Ban on Prayers in Jesus’ Name
A Fredericksburg City Councilman is suing his legislative peers for restricting his right to pray in Jesus’ name at official meetings. Hashmel Turner’s fellow council members voted to eliminate sectarian prayers in 2005 after a federal court ruled such invocations unconstitutional.
As FPN reported in 2005, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that prayers from elected officials at official public meetings cannot be offered in the name of Jesus Christ. In the case decided on July 22, 2004 against the town of Great Falls, South Carolina, the 4th Circuit found that “invocations .. which specifically call upon Jesus Christ, are simply not constitutionally acceptable legislative prayer[s]…”
An Establishment of Religion
Family Policy Network criticized the 4th Circuit’s decision because it stifled religious freedom rather than protecting it, and because it improperly represented an unconstitutional “establishment” of a state-mandated religion called Universalism. This religious doctrine is based on the illogical belief that all religions are true at once, thereby violating the theological views of most Christians, Jews and Muslims. In an effort to “protect” the views of a tiny minority, the majority of citizens were deprived of the religious liberties the First Amendment was passed to guarantee.
In 2005, FPN reported on a “prayer” offered by a pro-homosexual “minister” to the Virginia House of Delegates. Conservative members of the legislature were brow-beaten by a political diatribe that was disguised as a non-sectarian invocation, which fit well within the boundaries of the 4th Circuit’s mandate. In her “invocation,” the Reverend Debra Peevey of the Journey of the Heart Ministries of Reston, Virginia said, “Holy One, convict those who are using their power not to lead or to guide but to harm the gay and lesbian citizens, a small minority in this commonwealth.”
FPN President Joe Glover told AFR News there is a double standard when Jesus cannot be mentioned but a lesbian can pray for a sinful lifestyle to gain acceptance. He said, “But in the same Fourth Circuit … one cannot pray a prayer seeking the righteous, holy face of God, who condemns such sin, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ?” He added, “This is a double standard. The court was wrong in making this decision — and hopefully at some point the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn [it].”
Glover welcomed Hashmel Turner’s suit against his fellow Fredericksburg City Council members by saying, “It’s the challenge to the 4th Circuit’s mandated Universalism we had hoped to see.”
A news release from the attorneys who filed the case says Fredericksburg’s “policy regarding prayers at the start of council meetings violates Turner’s constitutional rights to free speech, to freely exercise his religious beliefs and to equal protection of the law.” Turner, who is being represented in court by the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, also serves as as acting pastor for the First Baptist Church of Love in Fredericksburg.
RELATED INFORMATION:
The 4th Circuit Court: Decision against prayers offered in the name of Jesus
Adobe Acrobat required: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/032069.P.pdf
CNS News: Conservative Group Sues Virginia City Council Over Prayer Policy
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=Culturearchive200601/CUL20060111b.html
Free-Lance Star: Prayer Lawsuit Hits City
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/012006/01122006/159531
Rutherford Institute: Attorneys File Landmark Free Speech Lawsuit
http://rutherford.org/articles_db/press_release.asp?article_id=595