As predicted

As I predicted, Speaker Bosma deliberately ignores the distinction between government speech and private speech with respect to the Court’s decision on sectarian prayer as official business of the House of Representatives.

Bosma conducted an afternoon news conference, repeatedly calling the edict intolerable.

“I am honestly shocked,” he said. “Every man and woman of faith … should be allowed to pray in accordance with their own conscience. I think that’s the American way.”

He also said that prayers have been offered representing many faiths, and he said in a written statement that “it is intolerable that a court in this free society would ask a person to censure the prayer they offer in the tradition of their faith.”

Speaker Bosma is a smart guy who knows the law pretty well. He was one of the instructors for the bar exam review course I took. So, his “misunderstanding” isn’t honest. He’s just being disingenuous by ignoring the critical distinction between government speech and private speech. The article linked above quotes one of the Court decision passages on this point:

All are free to pray as they wish in their own houses of worship or in other settings. The individuals do not have a First Amendment right, however, to use an official platform like the speaker’s podium … to express their own religious faiths.

Speaker Bosma’s reaction to the court decision demonstrates that he is not above using religion to inflame the passions of the public to divide us for political gain, providing a convenient demonstration of why the Establishment Clause is so important to our democracy.