Andrew L. Seidel

Alito’s majority opinion is bereft of both principle and reason. He could have been more concise and lost little nuance by simply writing: ‘The 40ft tall Christian cross is really old and people will get upset if we remove it, so it stays.’

In 2010 the district court correctly decided that the National Day of Prayer violated the First Amendment: “Its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function.” On appeal, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not disagree—it couldn’t—but it tossed the case.

In the run up to Easter and the National Day of Prayer, chaplains and guest chaplains around the nation have sowed religious division and discord as they delivered prayers at state legislatures, and now, federal courts are giving them their stamp of approval.