Court watch: Priorities might be askew in challenge before high court

Even as we speak, the Supreme Court of the United States is taking up a case that might seem, on the surface, like much ado about nothing.

The court is going to decide if it is OK for a town council to begin its meetings with a prayer.

The complaint, of course, is that to begin said meetings with a prayer is offensive to those who do not subscribe to Christian views.

This is a case we should pay attention to -- because it could lead to more than just the right to say a prayer at a town meeting.

And that is what those who are bringing the lawsuit -- and their supporters -- are worried about.

They are concerned that if the right to say the prayer is upheld, it will lead to other expressions of Christian faith -- like the Ten Commandments in schools and nativity scenes in front of public buildings.

Now wouldn't that be horrible.

And that brings us to a thought.

Perhaps if we were to worry less about the fact that someone who did not believe in a Christian viewpoint might have to sit through a one-minute prayer, and worry more about the violence, disrespect and apathy that seep throughout this nation, we might have our priorities in the right place.

This weekend alone, there were shots fired on a Goldsboro street, at North Carolina A&T and the town of Los Angeles is recovering from a man with a gun at the airport.

Perhaps a little more faith -- of any kind -- might not be such a bad thing in a society that seems to have lost its way.

And when did it become OK to espouse every other sort of belief and self-expression -- except faith?

Perhaps prayers before meetings is not the danger we should be worried about.

It is something to consider, anyway.

Published in Editorials on November 4, 2013 10:41 AM