Another reason to ban official prayer at public meetings

Cynthia Dunbar, one of the wingnuts on the Texas board of education, is a revolting human being. She delivered a 'prayer' before a meeting that is an excellent example of grandstanding piety. She seems to be lecturing god on American history…her version of American history.

Of course she wasn't actually lecturing god — that entity doesn't exist, and if you believe he does, then it would be an act of hubris to stand there and tell him what to think — but she was instead taking a moment to harangue the committee and audience with her far-right revisionist baloney without risk that someone might challenge her. In a room full of god-fearin' folk, she didn't have to worry about anyone interrupting a prayer to tell her that she's full of crap. It was an act of outrageous cowardice.

Here are a few bits of what she said.

I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses.

Whether we look to the first charter of Virginia, or the charter of New England...the same objective is present — a Christian land governed by Christian principles.

I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.

That's not a prayer. Those are dogmatic assertions, used to advance a loony political position.

Why shouldn't public meetings begin with a prayer? Because they're usually sectarian, always inane, and as we see here, can be used to advocate a specific political point under the mask of piety.