Monday, January 24, 2011

Hawaii Senate ends daily chamber prayers‏

We read:
"Fearing a possible court challenge, Hawaii's state Senate has voted to silence the daily prayer offered before each session began — making it the first state legislative body in the nation to halt the practice.

A citizen's complaint had prompted the American Civil Liberties Union last summer to send the Senate a letter noting that its invocations often referenced Jesus Christ, contravening the separation of church and state.

That prompted the state attorney general's office to advise the Senate that their handling of prayers — by inviting speakers from various religions to preach before every session — wouldn't survive a likely court challenge, said Democratic Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria. "Above all, our responsibility is to adhere to the Constitution," Galuteria said after Thursday's vote to halt the daily blessings.

"They (the ACLU) continue to threaten governments with lawsuits to try to force them into capitulating to their view of society," said Brett Harvey, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, made up of Christian lawyers to defend free faith speech. "Governments should take a stand for this cherished historical practice."

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that legislative prayers are permissible in some circumstances, but the court hasn't considered the issue since 1983.

Source

17 comments:

PIL said...

Of all the stupid things politicians do, prayer isn't one of them.

Heard about CNN bashing America?
http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/2011/01/cnn-bashes-america-in-survey-about-cool.html

Anonymous said...

the big question is , under which constitution does this legislative body convene ?

ISHGEBOR

Anonymous said...

Hmm - last time I read it, the Constitution doesn't dictate Atheism as the state religion of the USA, so I think that if people want to pray, they are still allowed to. While this may be the interpretation of the ACLU, people do not give up their first amendment right when they take office.

Anonymous said...

I was inferring that it is a state legislature controlled by their state constitution .

ISHGEBOR

Anonymous said...

Is this a 10th amendment issue ?
Or could the 10th apply in some way ?

ISHGEBOR

Stucco Holmes said...

Who cares? You want to pray, go to church.

Anonymous said...

Dumbass politicians in hawaaiiiii. i am glad i have never been there and never plan to go. what you expect from a state that odamna says he is from,,if it was a muslim call to prayer it would be ok..satan wins in hawaiiiiiii

Stucco Holmes said...

"satan wins in hawaiiiiiii"

Silly boy, satan does not exist, unless you count Lush Rimbaugh..

Anonymous said...

Satan may not exist, but his children do. They're called leftists.

Anonymous said...

This seems odd to me from over here in Australia.
You guys really need a 'shall not be questioned' clause.
Ultimately parliament is the final arbiter of its own processes. Courts cannot appropriately intervene in internal parliamentary issues. Judges failing to observe parliamentary privilege are treading where they ought not go.

jwenting said...

"Ultimately parliament is the final arbiter of its own processes. Courts cannot appropriately intervene in internal parliamentary issues"

yes and no. If parliament breaks the laws it has itself set, there should be a way to rectify that.

If you're talking about courts overturning laws, or rewriting them as they see fit, just because they feel like it, I'm with you.

Spurwing Plover said...

Phooie on the rotten ACLU this socialists group needs to lose its tax exemp status and be totaly abolished

Anonymous said...

I can not believe they stopped because if the story is right, it was one person who complained

Flu-Bird said...

Just as bad as in MEDFORD OREGON a few years ago when they replaced the usial christian prayer with a wacky new age bunch of wackos wearing goofy masks beating drums and dancing and prancing through the chambers becuase new age liberals are nutso and silly

Anonymous said...

So give up generally the silly 'wacky' appeals to the supernatural and get on with reality!
(Does God change his agenda when ignorant humans "pray" for an outcome that suits them better?).

Stucco Holmes said...

"Satan may not exist, but his children do."

How can a figment of YOUR imagination have children? Please explain. I would like to know how that is possible.

Spurwing Plover said...

Satan dose exist stucco who do you think come up with the UN in the first place