While Washington and Jefferson weep with laughter

Newsweek threatens to become a gold mine of stories about the papal visit for all the wrong reasons. Fresh off letting columnist Lisa Miller search wanly for twinkly eyes and just-add-water "catharsis," editors rounded out a story of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the White House by noting the following (boldface mine):

Soprano Kathleen Battle has been enlisted to sing "The Lord's Prayer" -- a decision the White House defended as appropriate despite the overt insertion of religion into a public event. "I think we've struck the right balance," Perino said. "Many people across America and across the world say that prayer in order to provide themselves comfort and confidence in getting their day started."

Get a load of that "overt insertion of religion into a public event." This is what passes for understanding the separation of church and state these days?

Every Catholic Mass is a public event, and every Mass is overtly religious. Other Christians can say the same about their worship services.

Press Secretary Dana Perino did what she could to forestall stupid criticism, but it's times like these that I wish the quick-witted Tony Snow was still chief White House spokesperson. Perino made the Lord's Prayer sound like a good luck charm. I wish she'd aimed higher. Snow might have pointed out that people say the prayer because -- quite apart from the comfort and confidence its words can instill in the hearts of believers-- it's what Jesus gave to us when his apostles asked Him to teach them how to pray.

What Newsweek does not seem to understand is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the insertion of religion into public events. Paychecks over there are paid out in American greenbacks that say both "In God We Trust" and "This Note is Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private," right? Even the seemingly impersonal U.S. Treasury Department laughs at the skittishness of some journalists in matters like this.

Last I looked, Congress still opened its legislative sessions with an invocation from a (religious) chaplain, although one could in fairness make the case that that deliberative body needs not just a chaplain, but an exorcist. Beyond the chaplaincy, the preamble to the Declaration of Independence still appeals very publicly to "the laws of nature and of nature's God."

The point, of course, is that the singing of the Lord's Prayer does not under any circumstances constitute establishment of a national church, which is what the First Amendment rightly forbids. Moreover, the Lord's Prayer is being sung in this case as a birthday present for a spiritual leader intimately acquainted with that prayer. As papal presents go, it's entirely appropriate.

That this particular White House flourish even had to be defended, and that nobody at Newsweek appears to remember the "free exercise" clause, speaks volumes about the ignorance of most of our chattering classes. American journalists who see harbingers of theocracy within our borders whenever a prayer is whispered in public have done the execrable Jimmy Carter and his "killer rabbit" one better: they're running from dust bunnies.

Benedict could set them straight, if they'd listen. Here's part of what he said at the White House:

"In the next few days, I look forward to meeting not only with America's Catholic community, but with other Christian communities and representatives of the many religious traditions present in this country. Historically, not only Catholics, but all believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard. As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society."

Washington and Jefferson (not to mention Madison and the rest of the Founders) would have understood and applauded that far more than Newsweekian squeamishness.