Missouri voters pass prayer amendment

August 08, 2012

By an 83%-17% margin, Missouri voters have passed a state constitutional amendment that ensures that “that any person shall have the right to pray individually or corporately in a private or public setting so long as such prayer does not result in disturbance of the peace or disruption of a public meeting or assembly.”

The amendment, backed by the state’s bishops, will also ensure that “citizens as well as elected officials and employees of the state of Missouri and its political subdivisions shall have the right to pray on government premises and public property” and that

students may express their beliefs about religion in written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their work; that no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs; that the state shall ensure public school students their right to free exercise of religious expression without interference, as long as such prayer or other expression is private and voluntary, whether individually or corporately, and in a manner that is not disruptive and as long as such prayers or expressions abide within the same parameters placed upon any other free speech under similar circumstances.

 

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Further information:

• Unofficial election returns (Missouri Secretary of State)
• 'Right to pray' wins easily in Missouri (Kansas City Star)
• Missouri bishops back proposed state prayer amendment (CWN, 7/23)