An Alliance Defending Freedom attorney encouraged the council to hold firm and continue praying, stressing that legislative prayer is constitutional and goes back to the very beginning of the country. (LifeSiteNews) — A Maryland county council has stopped its tradition of beginning meetings by praying the “Our Father” after it received letters threatening litigation from the atheist group “Freedom from Religion Foundation” (FFRF). “We are not a council that shies away from a challenge simply because litigation is threatened,” Cannon continued. That decision noted that legislative prayer has been practiced in the U.S. since the First Congress, something alluded to by Cortman. … They threaten you with litigation and try to get towns and localities to stop doing whatever religious practice it happens to be.