Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United: Federal Court Strikes Down Sectarian Prayers At Forsyth County, N.C., Commission

Monday, February 1, 2010

Federal Court Strikes Down Sectarian Prayers At Forsyth County, N.C., Commission

Watchdog Group Hails Decision Curbing Government Intervention In Religion

January 29, 2010

A federal court has struck down a North Carolina county’s policy of opening board meetings with sectarian prayers.

U.S. District Judge James A. Beaty held that the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ preference for Christian prayers violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

Observed Beaty, “[T]he prayers offered in the implementation of the Policy here did not reflect diversity and inclusiveness, and instead were divisive and had the effect of affiliating the Government with one particular belief.”

Plaintiffs in the Joyner v. Forsyth County lawsuit are Janet Joyner and Constance Lynn Blackmon, two county residents and members of the Winston-Salem Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

complete at: http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/01/federal-court-strikes-down.html

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Americans United for Separation of Church and State proudly supports and defends the right of citizens to choose and live according to their own convictions, whether religious or non-religious. It traces that basic freedom to a tradition founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Roger Williams, and enshrined in the First Amendment. It venerates the principle that religion is too important to be entrusted to government and encourages pluralism, tolerance, and a public life in which we the people interact on the basis of equal worth and mutual respect. Thus, Americans United considers separation of church and state a positive force in American society, a principle that encourages full participation among all people, burdens no one for following their conscience, and has encouraged a flowering of religious variety and vitality unequaled in today's world.