Theocrats in Washington

Today, the House passed H. Res. 153 “Recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our Armed Forces during the conflict in Iraq and under the threat of terrorism at home.” A public need for prayer and fasting? Oy vey. Why do I get the feeling that the House is saying, “we’re not really doing anything to ensure your safety, so you might as well just pray.” This resolution is highly disturbing. Perhaps the House should ask the President to call up the Saudis (since he’s not really on speaking terms with the Ayatollah) and coordinate the effort with a genuine theocracy so they can show us how it’s really done.
Prof. Volokh believes that the resolution is very wrong, but nevertheless does not violate the Establishment Clause because it is consistent with the Court’s ruling in Marsh v. Chambers (a state legislature did not violate the Establishment Clause when it opened each day’s session with a prayer offered by the legislature’s chaplain.)
More later…
Interesting…. Some on city council snub atheist’s invocation