Sectarian benediction at the Legislature

     To the editor:
      Recently, sectarian prayer in the Nevada Legislature has again become a public issue. Some members of the Legislature and at least one clergyman (the Rev. Lary Rothchild) believe that objections by the National Conference, ACLU, ADL, Jewish Federation of Las Vegas and others to the Christian prayers are unjustified.
      Unfortunately, there is no way for the Rev. Rothchild to experience the feelings of a Jewish person who is expected to participate, in a public forum, in a prayer to someone else's God.
      If the Rev. Rothchild were in a public meeting in India, would he feel comfortable being represented in a public prayer by someone who consistently invokes the assistance of the God Krishna? Would he participate in a public prayer to Allah if he were in Saudi Arabia? Would he have joined in public dissertation extolling the virtues of atheism if he had been in Russia in the 1970s?
      Fortunately, the United States does not require participation in religious observances contrary to one's own personal beliefs. Those who are in the minority not only need not participate, but our Constitution provides that they should never be put in the position where they have to identify their non-majority beliefs by refusing to participate.
      According to public comments by various legislators, the denominational prayers affect people in different ways. State Sen. Jack Regan's personal comfort with specific sectarian prayers differs from the reported feelings of Assemblywoman Merle Berman, or my own when I served in the Legislature, or the feelings of numerous Christians with whom I have spoken who do not agree with the Rev. Rothchild. People of various faiths (including Mormon, Lutheran, Jehovah's Witness, Unitarian, Episcopalian and Catholic) have told me that they believe the prayers at public functions should not reflect the personal belief of only the speaker, or the majority, but should include the entire group being addressed.
      In the Legislature, all clergy are given guidelines stating what is not acceptable in the opening prayers. Some clergy disregard those guidelines but are still invited back. All members of the Legislature are then subjected to speech that is offensive to some of the members. Rather than force those legislators and guests to leave the Legislature during the prayers, it is more appropriate to respect the sensitivity of the objectors by refusing to invite the speaker again.
      If I invite someone to my home and she abuses my hospitality by failing to comply with the guidelines I have set for my home, I am certainly justified in refusing to invite her a second time. I am not censoring her speech by setting rules for such speech within my own home.
      I have never heard anyone claim that a religious leader should censor his or her private or congregational prayer. I certainly do not expect to hear non-denominational prayer when I accompany my mother-in-law to her church. The denominational prayers are absolutely appropriate in church.
      So, I ask the members of the religious majority in this country (Christians) to consider, before calling for an official state religion, the historic persecution of Christians and the current discrimination against Christians in countries in which they are minorities. In so doing, perhaps members of the religious majority will be more willing to respect the minority group members.
      Official state religion is a danger to all religions. Each citizen of our great nation has the individual right to worship -- or not worship -- as she or he sees fit, and no person in our country should be required to publicly identify his or her religious beliefs by refusing to participate in sectarian prayers.
      A public body is not an appropriate forum in which to impose the beliefs of any specific sects.
     LORI LIPMAN BROWN
     Las Vegas
     
     -- To the editor:
      In response to the lead article in the Nevada section on April 30: Praise the Lord for the Rev. Lary Rothchild, who stood upon his convictions by praying in the name of Jesus before the Nevada Legislature. Now the ACLU is threatening to sue, saying, "The ACLU is not objecting to references to God at this time, but objecting to references to a specific God to the exclusion of all others."
      In John 14:6,7 Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you have known Him and have seen Him."
      The truth is there is only one true God and Jesus Christ is that God. He is also the only God with the power to answer prayer. But there is a catch. He says in John 14:14, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." The Rev. Rothchild knows that if you don't pray in the name of Jesus, you're just wasting your breath.
      The following was the invocation offered on Jan. 31, 1996 for the Kansas Legislature: "Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know that Your word says, 'Woe be to those who call evil as good,' and that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium, and we've inverted our values.
      "We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism, and we've endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
      "Father, in the name of choice, we've killed our unborn, and then in the name of right-to-life we've executed the abortionist. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
      "We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God. Know our hearts today. Try us, and show us any wickedness in us. And then cleanse us from every sin, and set us free!
      "Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas and who have been ordained by You to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
      The bottom line is that this country needs prayer, but more importantly it needs answered prayer. Thank You, Jesus, for the Rev. Lary Rothchild.
     KEVIN BONSIGNORI
     North Las Vegas