A revival of public religion - on Capitol Hill

Some people began meeting to pray in smaller groups. Some who had barely ever had a personal conversation found themselves talking about God and faith.

"What an event like this does, is it allows one to express a deeply held personal religious belief and conviction in a public context," says David Rodgers, a GOP staffer. "It's suddenly relevant."

By some measures, the spike of religious activity after the terror attacks is already subsiding. Church attendance in many communities, for instance, is back to previous levels. But the perception that religion is increasing its influence in American life remains strong. A Dec. 6 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 78 percent of Americans see religion's role increasing, up from 37 percent eight months ago. A Gallup survey put the number at 71 percent, the highest since the organization began asking the question in 1957.

Experts attribute this in part to the prominence official Washington is giving to religion. "The very public displays of religion by politicians and others have given the impression that religion is more ... influential in public life," says Charles Haynes, a scholar with the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va.

It's that combination of religion and politics that worries some groups. "Since Abraham Lincoln laced his inaugural address with a merger of patriotic and religious symbols, this tendency has been seen in the country on a regular basis," says the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Others see different problems. "When religious worship is entwined with expressions of patriotism and atheists don't participate, our patriotism is questioned," says Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists Inc. Her predecessor, Madalyn O'Hair, led a successful fight to overturn school prayer in the courts. But she failed in a 1982 bid to ban the use of public funds for a congressional chaplain.

The reason prayer in Congress passes constitutional muster - and school prayer doesn't - is that legislative prayer is "deeply imbedded in this history and tradition of this country," said the US Supreme Court in a 1983 decision (Marsh v. Chambers). The court also noted that legislative prayer involves adults who are under no compulsion to be present for the exercise.

Even within Congress, the issue of how much prominence to give religion or prayer has always been sensitive. Historically, the balance has shifted during periods of national crisis.

The first calls for prayer to start legislative sessions date back to the Continental Congress. "The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men," Benjamin Franklin said at the time. During the Civil War, President Lincoln frequently called for prayer days. Prayer breakfasts started in World War II, after a senator quipped that a commission studying war issues could use divine guidance. A weekly version of the meetings endures today.

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