Council prayers can't be sectarian, California court rules. (Around The States).A California appeals court has ruled that Christian prayers offered at the beginning of city council meetings in Burbank are unconstitutional. In a unanimous ruling issued on Sept. 9, the 2nd District Court of Appeals concluded that Burbank city officials were wrong to invite a Christian minister to offer a sectarian invocation invocation, n a prayer requesting and inviting the presence of God. at a city council meeting three years ago. The controversy began in November 1999 when council members invited David King David King may refer to:
Jesus Christ 40 days after Resurrection, ascended into heaven. [N.T.: Acts 1:1–11] See : Ascension Jesus Christ kind to the poor, forgiving to the sinful. [N.T. ." This prompted Irv Rubin Irv Rubin (April 12, 1945 – November 13, 2002) was chairman of the militant Jewish Defense League from 1985 to 2002. Rubin was born in Canada, but after experiencing widespread anti-Semitism in his home city of Montreal, he and his parents and sister moved to the neighborhood , head of the Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a militant Jewish organization whose stated goal is to protect Jews from anti-Semitism.[1] Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York City in 1968, its self-described purpose was to protect Hasidic Jews from harassment in Brooklyn, and to in California, to file suit challenging the Burbank policy. City attorneys had argued the prayers were the private remarks of individuals. The state appeals court disagreed. "By directing the prayer to `Our Father in Heaven ... in the name of Jesus Christ,' the invocation conveyed the message that the Burbank City Council is a Christian body, and from this it could be inferred that the council was advancing a religious belief" the court said in Rubin v. Burbank. The decision added that "any legislative prayer that proselytizes or advances one religious belief or faith or disparages another" is unconstitutional. |
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