To the editor:
I am concerned about the commotion over the practice of having prayer in public meetings. I believe there is a great difference between the concepts of separation of church and state and the separation of God and man.Our Founding Fathers adopted the principle of separation of church and state so that no religious sect or organization would be involved in government affairs.
This is not to say that they were not religious men who did not believe in God. Quite the opposite is true. George Washington was admired as a young man because of the respect he had for religion. As an older man in his farewell address to the nation, he said, "Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Prayer is a fundamental principle of all religion. It can not be misread as the infiltration of any church into government affairs. If we are believers in God, then prayer should be allowed. If we do not believe in God, then the words to our national anthem should be changed. If we do not believe, then we should remove "In God we trust" from our currency.
Richard Shaw
West Jordan