In a time when leaders are constantly under scrutiny and their flaws widely published, it is good to open the pages of Sacred Scripture and read of those whom God himself chose to lead others. With utter frankness, the Bible refuses to misrepresent its heroes and heroines as individuals without flaws, failings and even grave sin. Many of those whose accomplishments were great were not perfect people.

In its 1962 landmark Engel v. Vitale case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that prayer in public schools was unconstitutional. The court judged it a violation of the First Amendment clause forbidding the establishment of a government religion. In subsequent decisions, prayer was also banned at school graduations and sports events.