And now, let us pray

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Monday sanctioning prayer before open government meetings didn't pass the smell test of the Constitution's Establishment Clause, according to scholar David Adler. But Adler, who delivered a rousing lecture on freedom of religion Thursday in Coeur d'Alene, also noted that the wall separating church and state is a winding, wandering thing. The high court's latest ruling might just be another turn, rather than an abupt halt, in that wall.

While the court's decision might or might not have surprised you, one of the interesting side issues appeared in the Associated Press story published Tuesday. It noted that of the nine justices, six are Catholic; the other three are Jewish. Students of the Supreme Court likely knew which five are considered conservative and which four are deemed liberal, but who knew that there's nary a Baptist, a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian among them?

When it comes to religions represented on the bench, the Catholic Church claims 78 million members in the U.S. - roughly 25 percent of the population. Citizens identifying themselves as Jews comprise just 1.73 percent of the U.S. population. In essence, three quarters of American citizens do not have religious representation on their Supreme Court.

Of course, court appointees are not picked based on their religious practices or, allegedly, political affiliation. The idea is that the law which connects us all resides in a place apart from belief systems or other personal preferences.

How the court's ruling from the Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway is interpreted locally remains to be seen, but we do have a suggestion for the Coeur d'Alene City Council and other elected bodies and their appointees who start their meetings with prayer: Mix it up. Don't allow one group, no matter their strength of numbers or voice in the community, to monopolize this privilege.

While mainstream protestant and Catholic faiths certainly have their place in the public prayer line, less popular belief systems should not be shut out. In Greece, New York, criticism was at least somewhat blunted when the town council invited a Wiccan priestess, a member of the Baha'i faith and others to lead the opening prayer.

These and others should be welcomed locally, but one group must be banned: Disciples of the Chicago Cubs. Let those baseball holyland zealots lead a city council or school board prayer and next thing you know, North Idahoans will be prostrate before likenesses of Harry Caray and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the public comment portion of the meeting.