“I, Terry E. Branstad, Governor of the State of Iowa, do hereby encourage all Iowans to join this historical 99 County Bible Reading Marathon,” the official proclamation reads, “and furthermore, encourage individuals and families in Iowa to read through the bible on a daily basis each year until the Lord comes.”
The proclamation begins under a banner noting that it is “In the name and by the authority of the state of Iowa.” It also says that “the Bible is recognized as the one true revelation from God,” that “all Scripture is essential to prepare us to be the people God wants us to be,” and that the Bible, as “God’s revealed will for mankind,” holds the answers for civic leaders with regard to issues like social injustice and the drug crisis. [...]
Though intuitively Branstad’s proclamation may seem a clear violation of the separation of church and state, Jefferson’s “wall” between the two was recently dealt a severe blow by a 2014 Supreme Court decision.
In Town of Greece v. Galloway, a bare majority of justices concluded that it was constitutional for a small upstate New York town to open government meetings with a religious invocation, nearly all of which were Christian or had Christian themes. Following the decision, other towns have followed suit in opening official government meetings with prayers. The Supreme Court decision, however, holds that the practice is only constitutional as long as legislatures maintain “a policy of nondiscrimination,” and thus don’t privilege one religion over another.
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