agreement was reached on the language of the Bill of Rights.  Jd. "Clearly the men who wrote the first Amendment Religion Clause did not view paid legislative chaplains and opening prayers as a violation of that Amendment, for the practice of opening sessions with prayer has continued without interruption ever since that early session of Congress."  Jd. at 788.
That the Nebraska chaplain was paid with tax dollars was irrelevant to the Court's analysis.   Justice Burger observed that "remuneration is grounded in historic practice initiated...by the same Congress that adopted the Establishment Clause."  Jd., at 794.  And, the court noted, many other state legislatures and the United States Congress provide compensation for their chaplains. Jd.
In this historical context. Justice Burger concluded that the draftsmen of the First Amendment "saw no real threat to the Establishment Clause arising from a practice of prayer similar to that now challenged."  Jd., at 791.
Justice Burger then concluded:
In light of the unambiguous and unbroken history of more than 200 years, there can be no doubt that the practice of opening legislative sessions with prayer has become part of the fabric of our society.  To invoke Divine guidance on a public body entrusted with making the laws is not, in these circumstances, an "establishment" of religion or a step toward establishment; it is simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country.
Jd. at 792.
Most important to the instant case, however, was Justice Burger's admonition that the content of the particular prayers recited by the chaplain was irrelevant to the court's decision.
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