The ACLU will be the stalwart defenders of the Bill of Rights. VMI will argue that the prayers do not violate Article III protections. No, it is not. A fundamental military value stresses the almost quaint notion that the individual is dependent upon the group. Anyone who has been through boot camp or a plebe year understands that the lone wolf becomes the anathema.
Military life is communal.
Inherent in that life is the notion that one gives up, albeit temporarily, certain freedoms. Despite a recent trend to make our military institutions politically correct, the truth is they cannot successfully focus on the individual. Individual needs, wants, desires, and complaints take a back seat to the mission of the group. The two plaintiffs and the ACLU fail to grasp that religion, for many, is an integral part of a military life. The cadets do not understand what so many of their peers do.