Academic

Opposition To VA Prayer Bill . . . And The Devil In The Details

By firstamendmentblogger

Lionel Spruill, the Virginia state delegate who famously attempted to ban "saggy pants" a while back made national news again, this time over a bill to make it illegal to hang "rubber testicles" from a vehicle hitch. 

Gross.

What's getting less coverage is Spruill's attempt at defeating a measure that would allow state police chaplains to offer denomination-specific prayers at official events.  Supporters of the measure say the move is necessary to protect "freedom of religion" which is apparently being suppressed by an administrative order that currently permits clergy to offer only non-denominational government-sponsored prayer.  The new law would allow a Christian priest, upon the state's invitation, to surrender the class of  new recruits to the watchful eye of Jesus Christ, or a Jewish Rabbi to thank Yahweh for keeping them safe, or a Muslim Imam to bless their work in the name of Allah.

And there's the rub. 

Spurill's vote against the bill wasn't rooted in a concern about the crumbling wall that's supposed to separate church from state, or protecting the state from the inevitable ACLU suit that would follow passage of the bill, but the mere prospect of including an Imam at an official police event.

According to a local news report out this morning, Spruill told his fellow Delegates that when it comes to prayers in the House's own chamber, he generally has no problem, except that "from time to time we have certain people who come here, certain people who pray here and depending on who it is, I'll walk out that door, especially those in the Muslim faith I don't care too much about." 

I don't understand why this part of the story hasn't gotten more coverage (ok, so I do), but could we ever imagine an elected state official making such remarks about any other religion, and having it go virtually unnoticed in the national press? 

-Kathleen A. Bergin

cartoon credit: Slap Upside the Head

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).