Prayer lawsuit may be coming to end

To the Rev. Les Puryear, a prayer without Christ is not a prayer.

So when Puryear, the pastor of Lewisville Baptist Church, recently offered a prayer at a meeting of the Forsyth County commissioners, he prayed in the name of Jesus Christ.

Prayer to a specific deity is at the heart of a lawsuit against Forsyth County and a controversy that has dragged on since 2006. The issue could, however, be coming toward an end. A judge could rule on the lawsuit next month.

The lawsuit is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two county residents. The county hired, at no cost, a conservative organization called the Alliance Defense Fund, to defend against the lawsuit after being contacted by the fund.

Both the ACLU and the Alliance Defense Fund say that the law is on their side. Because the two sides are not really disputing the facts in the case, they are expected to ask the court for summary judgment -- in other words, to make a ruling on the case without bringing it to trial.

The issue has raised much discussion and brings many different opinions, among clergy in particular.

The Rev. Charlie Davis is the pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem; the two plaintiffs in the case against Forsyth County are both members of the church.

Davis said that sectarian prayer excludes people, which isn't good. The government guarantees religious freedom and that applies to nonbelievers as well, he said.

Before the controversy, Davis had offered general prayers in the name of all that is sacred or in the spirit of love before both the Winston-Salem City Council and the county commissioners. He turned the city down the last time he was invited, he said, and he did not return the form letter that the commissioners sent to solicit his participation.

When people show up to discuss a zoning ordinance, he said, they should not have to participate in a prayer.

"They are the county commissioners for the entire county," he said. "It's a political meeting, not a religious prayer."

The lawsuit, filed in March 2007, asks the court to stop the commissioners from allowing ministers who give the opening invocation to use Christian references. It suggests that general references to God or Lord be substituted.

Jennifer Rudinger, the executive director of the ACLU of North Carolina, has said that the policy is unconstitutional.

"Neutrality does not mean taking turns favoring different religious sects in different government meetings," Rudinger said. "This is official government speech. The government is choosing the speaker to bless the official government meeting."

The Alliance Defense Fund, however, maintains that a pre-meeting prayer with sectarian references can hold up to legal scrutiny if it is not intended to advance any religion at the expense of another.

In December, the commissioners rejected a proposal by the ACLU to settle the lawsuit if the county agreed to stop offering sectarian prayers and to pay the ACLU's legal fees.

Bill Leonard, the dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University, said that the issue speaks to the realities of pluralism in America, just at it does when cases came up about displays of the Ten Commandments in a public place.

One of the reasons that the sectarian-prayer issue has become so incendiary is because Protestants, particularly in the South, have been privileged in America well into the 20th century, Leonard said. Their prayers and practices were mostly accepted as the norm.

"This is the death rattle of implicit religious establishment in America that has been in existence since the Colonial period," he said.

There have always been objections to this informal establishment of the Protestant religion, Leonard said, but whether those groups were Baptists and Quakers, or Catholics and Jews, those groups didn't expect to be heard in the 19th century.

Today, these groups demand to be heard, Leonard said.

The Rev. Laura Spangler, the pastor of Lloyd Presbyterian Church, said she has mixed feelings about the controversy.

"One of my main concerns is that prayer, the main way we communicate with God, is becoming a tool for conflict," Spangler said. "And I don't feel good about that."

It's tough to see who wins in such a lawsuit, she said. "I don't like the idea of fighting for prayer through a lawsuit,'' she said. "If we're on God's side, we'll be seeking peace and cooperation to make our community better."

She said that nonbelievers need a voice as well, and some of those she has talked with have said that a moment of silence would be OK. She said she could see offering that option occasionally.

"I personally like the freedom to pray in the name of Christ because that's who's my savior," she said. "But I don't want that forced on others."

The Rev. Ron Baity, the pastor of Berean Baptist Church, said that some people have forgotten the country's history. In the early days of the country, the government called for national days of prayer, he said. There are many instances of recorded prayers before government bodies. Those prayers were both sectarian and nonsectarian.

Other faiths have the freedom to come to America and practice religion in the manner in which they choose, Baity said. He said he does not oppose other faiths having a turn at saying prayers. When he prays, though, he said, he wants to be able to do so in the name of Jesus. "Why do we allow a minority of people to call the shots when the majority of this country rule?" he said.

Some religious leaders have felt so strongly about the sectarian prayers that they have declined the opportunity to do the invocation at the commissioners' meetings unless the policy is changed.

Also, the manner of soliciting prayers can, intentionally or unintentionally, result in mostly Christian prayers, some religious leaders have noted.

Letters are sent to religious leaders whose places of worship are listed in the Yellow Pages. Those who are interested return the letters and are placed on the schedule. All five people who have offered prayers this year are from Christian denominations.

The Rev. Roy Swann, the pastor of Goler Metropolitan AME Zion Church, said that if you invite someone to pray, you are inviting that tradition into the meeting. He prayed at a city-council meeting after being invited and concluded his prayer in Jesus' name.

"Therefore, you must know what you're doing before you ask that person to pray," Swann said. "In government, you have to have equality. If you ask one tradition to pray, you're going to have to ask other traditions to pray."

He said he has no problem with how people are chosen unless the outcome ends up favoring one religion over another.

If they are not getting broad representation, the commissioners need to look at how people are selected, he said.

"Who's responding? Is the response a diverse view of our community?" Swann asked. "Is this a realistic view of our community? Or is it the response we want to get?"

■ Mary Giunca can be reached at 727-4089 or at mgiunca@wsjournal.com.