Church and State, Establishment vs. Separation

The furor caused by the lawsuit commenced by the ACLU to stop the Town Board of the Town of Greece (NY) from beginning its meetings with a prayer has led me to a couple of thoughts.

First, I have never really believed that the "Establishment Clause" of the Constitution should have been interpreted to mean that religion and religious beliefs must be banished from government. Clearly, the Founding Fathers rejected the notion of a "State Religion", such as the Church of England. Their experience with theocracy clearly led them to the idea that the government should not establish or support any religion over any other.

I cannot accept, however, that they intended to banish God from public life. Americans have always been a more spiritual people than have our secular cousins in Europe. Religious faith was deeply ingrained in early America. It seems inconceivable that the Founders wanted no mention of God in government.

Second, I find the fact that a lawsuit resulted from the "discomfort" suffered by the person in the audience to be a symptom of a truly uncivil society. If someone has given offense, an offense that was clearly unintended, doesn't it seem appropriate to bring the concern to the offender rather than hire a lawyer? Today, everyone is aggrieved by something. So many individual "rights" clash with others. Resort to lawyers and lawsuits is so common.

I think the "offended" party should be embarrassed for the course of action she took. Launching a lawsuit to stop the Greece Town Board from"offending" her without letting them know there was a problem is a ludicrous act. It may well be that if she had expressed her concern that a Christian prayer gave offense to a Jew, the Greece Board may have acted to change something to prevent such offense in the future. If she had been rebuffed, resort to a lawsuit may have been justified. But a lawsuit from the get-go? It doesn't seem right.