Attorneys Help Alamo Officials Remember the First Amendment

By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
January 12, 2005
AgapePress

Thanks to a legal group that specializes in defending religious freedom and other constitutional rights, visitors to one of the most historic sites in Texas are once again able to pray without the threat of arrest.

For more than six years, pastors and staff of Victory Assembly of God Church have taken groups of young adults on a field trip to the Alamo in San Antonio. During each trip, the young people would pray with their leader, committing to follow Christ regardless of the cost. Last fall, however, the students' prayer was interrupted by a security guard who said praying publicly at the national shrine was against the rules.

So, after consulting with the attorney general for the State of Texas, the DRT adopted revised rules, consistent with state and federal laws and the purpose of the shrine, showing a flexibility the Texas lawyer found commendable. He hopes other state entities and officials will follow their example.

"The bottom-line lesson is for everybody out there to really push back," Clark says. "There's no such thing as separation of church and state, and you're allowed under the First Amendment to exercise your rights of free speech and giving your praise to Jesus and to God -- the God of our country."

News from Agape Press