Indianapolis, USA - Republican House leaders made it clear Wednesday they don't agree with a judge's ban on prayers that invoke the name of Jesus Christ during their proceedings.
But, led by House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, they decided to forgo the 189-year tradition of invocations -- at least for now -- and opted instead to have a free-spirited prayer huddle in the back of the House chamber minutes before the opening gavel.
"We're taking a stand. We're making a statement," Bosma said. "But within the bounds of the court order."
Two other prayer sessions were held in the Statehouse Rotunda, led by citizens supportive of keeping prayer in the House.
Bosma's maneuver, crafted in the hours leading up to the start of business Wednesday, dominated the House's opening day for 2006. The legislative session itself lasted less than 20 minutes.
The pre-session prayer huddles will continue until the judge's order is revoked, House leaders said. Bosma said his legal team, working with Attorney General Steve Carter, would formally appeal the order by Feb. 15.
Fran Quigley, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit against Bosma prompted the court order, praised the House leader's solution of praying before the session.
"They're expressing their faith in a way that's not given the trappings of government speech, so I think it's constitutionally appropriate," Quigley said.
Indiana University law Professor Daniel Conkle said it would have been easier to make the case that this was private speech had the prayer huddle been outside the House chamber, and not so close to the start of business.
"They're testing the limit," Conkle said. "I wouldn't necessarily conclude they've gone beyond it, but I think they're definitely getting close to the edge."
For nearly two months, Bosma said, he had struggled to come up with a response to the order issued in late November by U.S. District Judge David Hamilton, which said prayers offered during House proceedings may not mention the name of Jesus Christ or endorse a particular religion.
Bosma told the convened House and a standing-room-only gallery that he opted against continuing the traditional invocations because Hamilton's order would require him to "review and inspect" the theology of any individual asked to perform them.
"Requiring people to pray in accordance with government-approved theology directly interferes with the freedom of conscience and speech that each of us holds so dear," he said.
With advice from what he called his legal team, Bosma concluded that the pre-session prayer huddle would not violate Hamilton's order in letter or spirit.
"Those of us, myself included, who yearn for the opportunity to freely speak in accordance with our beliefs have historically always ended up on the right side of history," he said.
His remarks were met by a 30-second standing ovation from House members and the gallery.
Less enthusiastic was Rep. David Orentlicher, an Indianapolis Democrat and the sole Jewish legislator. Orentlicher said he was in a meeting outside the House chamber when the prayer huddle took place. He said he had no problem with private and personal prayers.
But Orentlicher, who lingered in a doorway to the House chamber as Bosma explained his objections to Hamilton's order, said the speaker should be paying more attention to vital issues such as health care and tax policy and less to the prayer controversy.
He also criticized Bosma for continually insisting in public that free speech is at stake when his lawyers conceded that was not the case before Hamilton.
"It's unfortunate he wants to create religious conflict and political division when there are critical issues facing the state," Orentlicher said.
The mostly ceremonial day also included the Pledge of Allegiance, introduction of new members and a moment of silence for members who have died.
The prayer huddle was led by one Democrat and one Republican. Lawmakers stood shoulder to shoulder, many with hands on the backs of those in front of them.
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, opened the huddle by saying, "Lord, we just come before you humbly, and we want to tell you we love you and we appreciate you." She asked for divine guidance, that "we may walk and seek to please you, and not men."
Welch concluded her prayer "in the name of the great I Am" -- a reference to God that bridges both the Jewish and Christian bibles.
From there, Rep. P. Eric Turner, R-Marion, asked God to give House members wisdom and to help them act in a Christ-like way. He concluded his prayer "in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" to a chorus of amens.
Such remarks made last year during opening invocations, particularly some similar to Turner's references to Jesus, were cited by Hamilton as evidence that the House violated the U.S. Constitution's clause prohibiting a government establishment of religion.
In a subsequent ruling, Hamilton said further that no one should try to evade his injunction "through indirect but well understood expressions of specifically Christian beliefs."
House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, joined the prayer huddle. Though he found the speaker's solution "a little awkward," he said he didn't disagree with it.
Outside the House chamber, peering through a window at the proceedings and carrying a sign that said "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," 15-year-old Praise Jerusha Sharp, Crawfordsville, was among those who objects to Hamilton's ruling.
She took a day off from her private school to make her feelings known. "If they don't start praying in Jesus' name, our country is going to fall," she said. "I've asked (God), and he doesn't like it."
Earlier, two groups had services in the Statehouse atrium to pray for the elected leaders of Indiana and the nation. Organizers of both said they were notarranged in response to the prayer controversy upstairs in the House. But several were dead set against Hamilton's court order.
At the 10 a.m. service, people seated in blue chairs in the marble Rotunda began the prayer session by chanting, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."
The group grew louder as church leaders stood behind a lectern, their shouts of praise echoing through the Statehouse.
The Rev. Greg A. Dixon, pastor of Indianapolis Baptist Temple, said he wished Bosma had asked him to do the invocation so he could have defied the judge's order. "I'd go to jail over it if I had to."
House members said they were disappointed that the invocation had to be set aside. Welch said the breaking of tradition felt weird. Turner called it "regrettable." But he said a prayer is a prayer no matter where or when it's offered.
"God's going to hear it the same way."