City council in West Virginia ignores lawsuit to stop the Lord's Prayer at meetings

Ignoring a pending lawsuit over reciting the Lord's Prayer at its meetings, a West Virginia city council began proceedings as usual, with a Christian prayer, Tuesday evening.

The meeting of the Parkersburg City Council began at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after public recitation of the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, WTAP reports. This was the first meeting since a lawsuit was filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation to stop the recitation of the Lord's Prayer at City Council meetings.

The lawsuit claims the City Council is violating the First Amendment by endorsing Christianity over other religions and seeks to stop the recitation of the prayer taught by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The lawsuit says members of the public that attend City Council meetings are required to stand and recite the prayer along with council members.

WTAP estimates that about half of the people in attendance at Tuesday's meeting were from a local church and wore badges saying, "I Love Parkersburg," showing support for the City Council.

One woman in attendance reportedly suggested that the lawsuit could be avoided if the City Council would designate one minute for silent prayer, allowing all faiths to be observed, instead of reciting the Lord's prayer.

The City Council reportedly did not respond to this suggestion.

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