Freedom to pray goes on trial today in Florida courtroom

Fellow gun nutz and readers of God, Guns & Grits, it's time to pray. This morning at 9 a.m. two school officials in Florida go on trial for the heinous offense of saying grace over a meal at a school with no students present, despite what the lede says in The Washington Times story today.

Two Florida school officials facing possible jail terms for praying in the presence of students arrive in court Thursday enjoying the support of more than 60 members of Congress.

Some of those members, who signed a letter of support and sent it to the two school officials Monday, took to the House floor Tuesday night to denounce what they called a "criminalization of prayer" that "tramples on the First Amendment rights" of Christians.

"The Founding Fathers would be appalled" at the trial of Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and his school athletic director, Robert Freeman, said Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida. His Pensacola-based district includes Santa Rosa County, where the lawsuit is based.

The 9 a.m. trial "is one of the first times we've literally had the potential for the criminalization of prayer in the United States of America," said Rep. J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

If the two men are found guilty, "there will come a day," Mr. Forbes predicted, "when the speaker of this house will be hauled into federal court and threatened with jail because she dares to stand at that podium where you stand tonight and ask the chaplain to start our day with the prayer."

Mr. Forbes, Mr. Miller and Rep. Mike McIntyre, North Carolina Democrat, were signatories to the Monday letter to the two educators, assuring them that "we are standing with you in prayer and support as you face your trial." More than 60 members of the House have co-signed.

I have been praying that this case will be the cause that hoists the Anti-Christian Lawyers Union by its own petard. The ACLU has been the bully on the block against everything Christian for far too long. It's about time they get slapped down and this case is so ridiculous on the face of it, I can't seen how any sane judge would not throw it out. But sane and judge may not necessarily go together. Pray that sanity will break out today in that courtroom in Florida.

And I am proud to say we've got 60 members of Congress who have gotten into this fight on behalf of the two Christian gentlemen who have done nothing illegal except in ACLU idiocy.

God bless Mike McIntyre of my home state and the other 59 members of Congress who have stepped up to the plate to defend God and country and the liberty most of us still hold dear.