By Tom Strode, Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) -- The constitutionality of legislative prayer gained reaffirmation Oct. 11 when a federal court dismissed an atheist's challenge of the U.S. House of Representatives' right to bar him from delivering an invocation. Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia said U.S. Supreme Court precedent undergirds the long tradition of prayer to open congressional sessions and the House's rules in carrying out the practice. Collyer's support for legislative prayer in Congress came three months after a federal appeals court invalidated the practice in a North Carolina county. U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Benton) was among those applauding the decision. “As an attorney who defended legislative prayer for many years prior to being elected to Congress, I am thankful for the court’s decision invalidating this latest atheist challenge to our cherished tradition,” said Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church in Bossier City. “As the Supreme Court has acknowledged many times, 'we are a religious people, whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.' I look forward to continuing to start our work in Congress each day as our founders did, with a prayer to God.” Speaker of the … [Read more...]