The Freedom From Religion Foundation is expressing its strong objection to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s recent unconstitutional “Day of Prayer” proclamation.
Multiple concerned Utah residents have informed the state/church watchdog that Cox has continued his practice of official prayer proclamations, recently issuing an official proclamation declaring Sept. 1, 2024, as a “Day of Prayer, Fasting and Contemplation.” Cox fails to see a contradiction between such a proclamation and his self-declared fealty to the U.S. Constitution.
“We agree with your assertion on social media that you made in announcing this proclamation that we need a ‘recommitment’ to our longstanding constitutional principles,” FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor write to Cox. “We ask that you start by respecting the First Amendment and our secular government by not misusing your position as governor to promote prayer and religious belief.”
Article 1, Section 4, of the Utah Constitution protects rights of conscience, bars the state from making any law respecting an establishment of religion and proclaims “There shall be no union of Church and State,” FFRF points out. Cox’s proclamation clearly violates these guarantees.
Likewise, the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment prohibits government sponsorship of religious messages. The Supreme Court has said time and again that the “First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.” By issuing a proclamation calling on Utah citizens to pray, Cox abridges his duty to remain neutral and to respect the freedom of conscience of all Utah citizens.
And FFRF reminds Cox that as an elected official he represents a diverse population from many religious backgrounds, including agnostics and atheists who do not believe in prayer. Any prayer proclamation or government-sponsored religious activity alienates many non-Christians and nonbelievers in the state of Utah and sends them the message “that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community,” to quote the U.S. Supreme Court.
The religiously unaffiliated, better known as the “Nones,” actually have quite a significant presence in Utah. PRRI’s definitive census on religion, which documents affiliation by county, shows that fully 28 percent of Salt Lake City residents are “Nones.” Overall, at least 22 percent of Utahns have no religion. They, too, are Cox’s constituents, and care as much about the future of our nation as religious Utahns.
Government officials may worship, pray and participate in religious events in their personal capacities — but they may not provide credibility or prestige to their religion by lending a government office and government title to religious events. Their office and title belong to “We the people,” not the offices’ temporary occupants.
“Leaving prayer as a private matter for private citizens is the wisest public policy,” Barker and Gaylor conclude. “The state of Utah is constitutionally prohibited from supporting religion over nonreligion, as it has done here. Please rescind this proclamation and respond in writing with the steps that you will take to avoid constitutional violations of this nature in the future.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 40,000 members across the country, including hundreds of members in Utah. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
