* * Our new public prayers

 This article appeared in my regular column in the News Messenger.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…

I had a flashback the other day. I’ve come to grips with the fact that I am now at an age I once thought was old. Since I still live near the area of my upbringing, flashbacks are common.

I was riding my motorcycle to the library on Sheltman Street in Christiansburg to return a book. Being a Christiansburg native, this area, in spite of many changes in landmarks, is as familiar to me as the back of my hand. The stately, brick, two-storey school building at the top of the hill facing College Street was my high school. (Yes, I really am that old.)

I attended my earliest years at the schools on East Main and on Junkin Street, and while since repurposed, those buildings also still stand. My only “modern” school was on Wades Lane, where if my memory serves me, I attended fifth grade.

One of my lingering memories is the discomfort of my private study hall in the school library, my weekly session where I skipped Bible classes. Incredible as it may seem to today’s youngsters, back in those days every public school student was required, unless exempted by special permission, to be educated in religion, specifically Christianity. Not being Christian, my parents thought this was a singularly bad idea and thus had my siblings and me exempted. One classmate delighted in reminding me in his sing-song way, “Jesus loves me more than you, I’m a Christian you’re a Jew,” perhaps unmindful that Jesus himself was Jewish.

These weekly sessions were awkward, painful experiences. Like most school kids, I just wanted to fit in. But once per week, I stood out. Fortunately, school kids in the intervening years have not had to face such ignominy.

Recently, our United States Supreme Court has taken what may be the first step in changing that. It handed down a ruling, which if I understand it correctly, says that legislative groups can offer group prayers to begin meetings. They further ruled, however, that the prayers must be empty, generic, and essentially hollow. The reinstatement of prayer in public schools may not be far behind.

Mind you, I’m not against praying. I think anybody who believes in the power of prayer should certainly do it. However, it seems to me that these public recitations are ritualistic and empty, and have no bearing on what prayer should be about, which is a personal conversation with one’s creator. We have great places for prayer in our society: in churches, synagogues, mosques, in nature, and in the privacy of one’s own heart and mind. What is accomplished by praying at a town council meeting, athletic contest, civic group meeting, or public school?

The “graces” we mutter before some public meals, including those of the civic group I belong to, are so rote that they are vapid and trite. How many times have we heard, “Lord, please bless this food we are about to share, those who prepared it, those who serve it, and for this special day. In Jesus’ name we pray.” Presumably we should bless the cow who gave its life to provide the meat as well. Sorry for the sarcasm, but whenever I hear it I wonder if the cooks back in the kitchen feel a special tinge when they hear we’ve group-blessed them.

Inevitably, in the USA, if there is a public prayer given, it is with a Protestant, Christian bent. Since its inception, our nation has been predominantly Protestant, but not solely! When I faced the voters in my recent unsuccessful run for the Virginia House of Delegates, I anticipated being asked, “Are we a Christian nation?” to which I flippantly prepared to answer, “If we are, am I still eligible for office? Because if I’m not, I’m going to stop working so hard to win it.” If we are a Christian nation, what are non-Christians? Are we full citizens? Are we still eligible to vote? Are we less EQUAL?

Those who applaud the Supreme Court decision, fearing that we have become a Godless nation, had best be careful what they wish for. Protestantism is rapidly diminishing in its majority, now just over 50%. If your community has a Muslim or Hindu majority in the future, will theirs be the prayers you hear at public meetings? People who want state-sanctioned prayers must understand that not every prayer they hear will be of their own faith. In our increasingly diverse society, that will become more likely.

So as I remember the little boy I was those decades ago, sitting alone in the library while my classmates were learning about Jesus, I wonder about the wisdom of our highest Court and the fate of the little schoolboys and schoolgirls who again will face such indignity and isolation, for no real reason I can discern.