Maine Today Media reported last week that Maine state legislators and state officials, including the governor, have formed the Maine Legislative Prayer Caucus. Last Tuesday, over 150 people, including 50 mostly Republican and a few Democratic legislators, participated in a ceremony announcing the new group. The group is affiliated with Pray USA, an initiative that seeks to "preserve the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation and protect American religious liberty." Maine is the sixth state to create a formal group. The group which is nonpartisan will meet once a week to pray for fellow legislators and other state and national government leaders. Gov. Paul LePage said: "The separation of church and state is not a separation from public life. Always, our courts are taking symbols of religion out of our public house, but they can't take religion out of our hearts."
UPDATE: On Jan. 17 the Maine Legislative Prayer Caucus issued a Call To Prayer For Maine, and a few days later the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent the Governor, legislative leaders and other caucus members a memo (full text) pointing out "historical fallacies, contradictions and inaccuracies" in the Call To Prayer document.
