A patriotic display at a vacant city-owned building in Greensburg was rejected this week because it contained an unfortunate four-letter word. The word was ‘pray,’ and it was unfortunate in the eyes of city officials. The display was designed by Greensburg artist Johanna Churma and titled ‘We Pray.’ It was to be accompanied by two other panels called ‘We Mourn’ and ‘We Respond,’ each telling the story of the American reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. However, the project has been nixed because any reference to prayer seems to spark skittishness in the halls of government. Churma’s display prompted a closed-door executive session between council and the city solicitor last week, and the decision to reject her work was announced by Greensburg Mayor Karl E. Eisaman, who referenced predictable concerns about ‘separation of church and state.’ We are more worried about the separation of good sense and state, and about an uncomfortable climate that causes government officials to quake with fear whenever confronted with anything spiritual. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution begins, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’ It’s impossible to argue with any seriousness that Churma’s work could prompt Congress to take either of these actions. She provided no instructions on how, where or to whom to pray, just the reflection of the fact that many Americans responded to the tragedy with prayer. Beyond that one clause, the Constitution is silent on the role of religion in public life. Unfortunately, a series of court rulings has pushed expressions of faith further and further from the public square. Lawsuits have targeted Christmas and Easter displays, the Ten Commandments and other vestiges of spiritual life. The line keeps getting pushed in favor of those who are hostile toward religion. It has gotten so extreme that even a simple, obviously truthful statement like ‘we pray’ can produce such a knee-jerk reaction of revulsion. Too many government officials have discovered that it is easier to give in to anti-religion activists rather than fight and face the threat of legal action. Did Greensburg officials act out of fear or do they really believe Churma’s display is inappropriate• And if they do, then was President Bush – our highest government official – wrong on the afternoon of Sept. 11 when he asked Americans to ‘join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families’• Did he skirt the law by declaring Sept. 14 a national day of prayer• Were he and countless other politicians out of line for attending and speaking at a national prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on that same day? It may be easy for government officials to find fault now with the words ‘we pray,’ but no one was doing that in the horrible hours after we watched thousands of our innocent countrymen killed in cold blood. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are very few who do not turn to prayer in times of extreme grief. Americans had a variety of reactions to the events of Sept. 11. We mourned; we cried; we shuddered; we became fearful; we got angry; we donated; we attended memorials; we rallied together; we called for vengeance; and yes, by God, we prayed. Just as Churma’s work suggests, we turned to prayer. Not because Congress passed a law or established a national religion, but because we found solace in believing that a higher power would understand our grief and comfort us in a time of sorrow. Even with their different religions, Americans have always been a people of great faith. Even now, we pray – for justice, for the success and safety of American troops, and maybe for an occasional display of courage from elected officials. We are at war today because we believe America is worth fighting for. We have freedoms and a way of life that most of world cannot even understand. But as we are reminded by the case in Greensburg and hundreds of others across the nation, these freedoms were difficult to win and easy to lose.

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