"I'm neither surprised by nor disappointed by Governor Chafee's decision not to have a public prayer service at his inauguration last Tuesday. After all, it was his inauguration, and he had every right to design a program with which he was comfortable. Whether to pray publicly with other leaders and citizens of the state on his big day was completely his prerogative.

I'm more concerned by the reason for the no-prayer decision given by his spokesman, who said that the governor's 'point of view is that his inaugural day needs to respect the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state is an important constitutional principle.'"

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