"Lord, it is a tough day, but your word has told us that this day would come," the pastor said. "That in the last days, prayer-less times would come. That it would be a time when people would be unthankful, unholy and ungrateful. It would also be a time of lawlessness, when men and women would choose to go their own way and ignore what is right."The USSC upheld the right to use legislative prayers in Marsh v. Chambers, even (contrary to Justice Stevens who dissented largely on that narrow ground) when one chaplain of a specific denomination was chosen for that role for a number of years. The opinion noted that the content of the prayer should not be a concern unless "indication that the prayer opportunity has been exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief." A footnote noted the chaplain felt the prayer was "nonsectarian," but the matter was not pressed there.
The prayer cited suggests that rule was violated, but especially with the open access system of speakers, it is pretty hard to avoid totally. It is one thing when an open forum [there is a fear it will not truly be freely open and cases where Wiccans or such are denied entry are available, but complete openness can aggravate the problem] is present: some people will say things that will upset other people, that is the nature of things. Here, however, is an official policy to sanctify government proceedings, and many of these things (especially in certain smaller communities) will involve the general public being present.
The girl and others suggest, therefore, a moment of silence approach. This is a reasonable compromise. Jesus instructing people to pray in private aside, there will continue to be debates on these subjects because of a felt need to openly express one's faith, including in this context. Moments of silence are not always without controversy, but there are realistic middle ground approaches. Thus, the Constitution itself provides an affirmation option for those who finds oaths (again, one can quote Jesus on the point) improper. A simple "do you swear or affirm" satisfies without making an issue of it. A moment of silence can do so as well. Reasonableness can be fairly easy.
Melissa Harris-Perry has included some teenagers in her civic hero segments and it is nice to see "young people" being honored for such a thing. Smarts are to be honored wherever they are found.