Lisa Miller writes about a man suing to stop Obama from saying "so help me God" at the inauguration:
Obama wants to say "so help me God"and by all means, he should do so. The public prayers by two Christian ministers are more problematic. Today, the greatest threats to our safety come not from godless communists but from religious fundamentalists abroad. Our new president might use his Inauguration then to showcase the values that have made this country great: pluralism, moderationand the separation of church and state. Though not as politically expedient, the better choice might be to pray in private.
Althouse weighs in:
I don’t really want to talk about these attention-seekers, even though I teach Religion & the Constitution, because I resent the way they cause many people to despise the Establishment Clause and to think atheists are litigious louts. I detest the idea that Obama’s magic moment turning into President has been intruded upon by people doing PR for their crusade.