Why do we pray in public? When and where is public prayer inappropriate? Are there too many restrictions on public prayer? Too few?

Public praying was much simpler when I grew up in Knoxville in the 1940’s. There were no public atheists and most people seemed to be Christians. Today such prayer is much more complex. Atheists have garnered the public ear. Memphis has sizeable communities of Jews, Muslims and people of other faiths. Christians seem to agree more than we used to about doctrinal matters but less about how society should be organized. Regardless, lack of public prayer is a major loss. Faith in God is a crucial component of human nature, perhaps the most important of all. How can we ignore that reality in our common life?