John Hostettler: “Why are we considering this legislation today? How is the offering of prayer at a football game unconstitutional? The…”

“Why are we considering this legislation today? How is the offering of prayer at a football game unconstitutional? The root of this debate can be traced to 1962 when the Supreme Court opined in Engel versus Vitale that, quote, State-sponsored, end quote, prayer was unconstitutional. Why? Because the Supreme Court said that the First Amendment had erected a wall of separation between church and State and that wall had been applied to the individual States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. Where did that logic come from? It was a line of reasoning that was expounded by Justice Hugo Black in 1947 when he stated, quote, my study of the historical events that culminated in the Fourteenth Amendment and the expression of those who sponsored and favored, as well as those who opposed its submission and passage, persuades me that the provision of the amendment's first section were intended to make the Bill of Rights applicable to the States, end quote.”