Indiana House of Reps Opposes 'Jesus' Prayer Ban
Indiana legislators spoke unanimously to support freedom of prayer in the state’s House of Representatives in a landslide vote.
Indiana legislators spoke unanimously to support freedom of prayer in the state’s House of Representatives on Monday in a landslide vote.
The resolution, which passed 83-0 but does not carry the force of law, comes as a response to a decision in November by U.S. District Judge David Hamilton who ruled that invocation prayer must not advance any religion, specifically noting that Christ’s name is not allowed.
The House members said the “intolerable” court order was against the “word and spirit” of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and urged House Speaker Brian Bosma, who opposed the ruling but was ordered to carry it out, to use all lawful means to seek to invalidate the judge’s command.
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“[The order] attempts to control the content of prayer, this order undermines the rights of all Hoosiers regardless of their theological convictions,” read the resolution in part.
Bosma has already filed a request for a stay with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, according to the Associated Press. He said he will be filing a full appeal before the Apr. 10 deadline.
In order not to break with the judge’s order, members have been gathering to pray at the rear of the legislative chamber before official meetings since the 2006 House session began
The House members said in the resolution that the invocation prayer at the start of official meetings has been a tradition in Indiana for 189 years.
They also noted that members of the clergy of various religions or those not formally affiliated with a religion have been allowed to pray according to their "beliefs and freedom of conscience."
Judge Hamilton said in his decision that sectarian prayer violated the establishment of religion clause in the Constitution and that the prayers made by those identified with Christian churches "consistently advance the beliefs that define the Christian religion."
The case came to the judge as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four people who said they were offended by the usually Christian prayers in the house. Bosma was named the defendant in the case.
