SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Alliance Defense Fund is distributing informational letters to thousands of local governments beginning Wednesday as part of a new education campaign on the constitutional use of voluntary prayer at public meetings. ADF has also launched a new Web page dedicated to assisting elected officials and other concerned citizens with this emerging issue.
“It’s amazing that, in a country founded on religious liberty, the centuries-old choice to open a public meeting with a prayer of the giver’s choosing is coming under attack,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson. “But through their campaign of fear, intimidation, and disinformation, the ACLU and its allies continue their threats against hometown governments that they consider to be easy prey. ADF is offering free information and legal assistance to local officials so that they can stand up to the ACLU’s far-flung, secular agenda.”
The address of the new Web page created by ADF is www.telladf.org/prayerpolicies. Copies of the informational letters, which contain model prayer policies, for each state are available at the page.
ADF attorneys have recently assisted local governments in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania in drafting and defending policies to safeguard public invocations at government meetings. In addition, ADF attorneys have provided legal assistance to the Ohio and South Carolina legislatures as they have considered legislation and policies related to the issue.
“We believe these policies are a constitutionally defensible method to protect and preserve the cherished American tradition of opening public meetings with prayer,” said Johnson. “It is our hope that this Web page and the informational letters will encourage local officials with what they need to refute the increasing demands of the ACLU and its allies that public invocations be silenced across America.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org