A federal district court ruled that government officials in a government context can legally pray in the name of Jesus. Judge Richard Story, referring to the county situation at issue, made a useful distinction:
To be sure, many of these speakers, in offering their invocations, identify the deity to whom they direct their prayer. In that respect, they surely convey their alignment with one religious creed to the exclusion of others. But viewed cumulatively, given the diversity in the denominations and faiths represented, it is difficult to extrapolate from any one speaker’s affiliation a preference on the part of the Cobb County government.
