Big Win for the Prayer Lobby

IF you listened to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court and his fellow conservatives on the bench this week, you might think the court’s 5-4 decision in the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway was no big deal. So what if a town in upstate New York typically opens its council meetings with prayers that acknowledge “the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross”?

If you listened to the people who shepherded the case as it ascended the judicial hierarchy, however, the decision represents one of their biggest victories to date. It “wasn’t just an answer on prayer — it was an answer to prayer!” read a statement by the Family Research Council. The council is one of a host of organizations guided by the religious liberty advocacy group the Alliance Defending Freedom that backed the defendants with legal resources.