God, but not Jesus

Monday, May 17, 2004

The Porterville Recorder

In deeply religious Porterville, the name of Jesus Christ is now banned from prayers that open City Council meetings, and a Lindsay ban probably is on the way.

Porterville moved recently to follow a court decision that bars official invocations from naming a specific deity. The decision permits words such as "God," "Lord" and "Father" but bars terms such as "Jesus," "Allah," "Yahweh" or "Buddha."

The ruling held that naming a specific deity violates a clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution preventing government from establishing any official religion.