* Supremes Seek Supra-Prayer

The Supreme Court Justices seemed to seek a non-denominational prayer from the litigants in Town of Greece v. Galloway last Wednesday.  

The lawyers couldn't think of one.  

Apparently none of them has loved ones  with an addiction problem.  

Over 20 million people say the non-denominational prayer (above) in AA meetings every week around the world.



LINK:

At the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the justices heard arguments for a case styled Town of Greece v. Galloway, in which a very basic question provoked long, long, and imperfect answers.

Should the town of Greece, located in the tundra outside of Rochester, N.Y., be allowed to start a monthly meeting with a prayer? The plaintiffs say the Christian overtones of the monthly invocation make them uncomfortable, and argue that it constitutes a government endorsement of Christianity.  . . .

JUSTICE ALITO: All right. Give me an example. Give me an example of a prayer that would be acceptable to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus. Give me an example of a prayer. Wiccans, Baha'i.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: And atheists.

JUSTICE SCALIA: And atheists. Throw in atheists, too.

(Laughter.)

MR. LAYCOCK: We—we take Marsh to—to imply that atheists cannot get full relief in this context, and the McCreary dissenters said that explicitly. So points on which believers are known to disagree is a—is a set that's in the American context, the American civil religion, the Judeo-Christian tradition —­

JUSTICE ALITO: Give me an example then. I think the point about atheists is a good point. But exclude them for present purposes and give me an example of a prayer that is acceptable to all of the groups that I mentioned.

MR. LAYCOCK: About a third of the prayers in this record, Your Honor, are acceptable.

JUSTICE ALITO: Give me an example.

MR. LAYCOCK: Can I have the joint appendix? The prayers to the almighty, prayers to the creator.

JUSTICE ALITO: To "the almighty."

MR. LAYCOCK: Yes.

JUSTICE ALITO: So if—if a particular religion believes in more than one god, that's acceptable to them?

MR. LAYCOCK: Well, some religions that believe in more than one god believe that all their many gods are manifestations of the one god. But the true polytheists I think are also excluded from the McCreary dissent.

JUSTICE SCALIA: What about devil worshippers?

(Laughter.)

MR. LAYCOCK: Well, if devil worshippers believe the devil is the almighty, they might be OK. But they're probably out —

(Laughter.)