A simple request to start a school board meeting with prayer has ignited a viral debate in North Carolina, and it’s a vivid reflection of how America got into the mess it’s in today.
At the Apr. 14, Cabarrus County School Board meeting, board member Melanie Freeman made a motion to “include an invocation” at the beginning of their gatherings. That was enough to provoke outrage from fellow board member Pam Escobar, who, despite claiming to be a Christian, made her disdain for public prayer abundantly clear, and loud.
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“If you put prayer at the beginning of this meeting, I don’t think that’s a welcoming sign to the people who are in this room tonight,” Escobar said, as reported by The Christian Post. She doubled down with a sharp rebuke: “How much prayer do you need? How much God do you need?”
That question right there — “How much God do you need?” — captures the heart of America’s spiritual crisis. The answer is simple: We need more of God, not less. The reason we’re facing cultural chaos, broken families, moral confusion, and even school board dysfunction is because we’ve spent decades pushing God out of our schools, courts, and public life. And now we’re reaping the consequences.
Escobar continued her tirade, saying, “If you want to pray with them, take them to church. … You want to be Evangelical and do that? Go for it. But not on my time, not on their time, and not on this community’s time.” She even warned the board that lawsuits would follow if they dared move forward.
But Freeman stood firm and calmly reminded the board that prayer has always been a part of American governance. “They have a chaplain who opens their meetings, and this has been, as a Christian nation, what we have done for 250 years,” Freeman said. “So, to be offended […] seems a little bit out there for me because the prayers of the people have always been for people, not against people.”
And she’s right. Prayer isn’t the problem. It’s the absence of it that is. We’ve confused tolerance with godlessness, and we’re seeing the damage unfold daily. The only path to freedom, unity, and prosperity is the path that leads back to God, and that begins with welcoming Him back into our public spaces, including school board meetings.
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In a dramatic close, the motion passed 5-2 despite Escobar shouting “no” during the vote. The resistance to something as foundational and historic as opening in prayer only proves how far we’ve drifted, and how badly we need a course correction.
America doesn’t need less of God. We need Him now more than ever.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
