The Colorado Supreme Court has thrown a lawsuit out challenging the National Day of Prayer.

The ruling by the court overturns a lower court ruling that a declaration of a day of prayer is unconstitutional.

The anti-Christian group Freedom From Religion Foundation sued in 2008 claiming that then-Governor Bill Ritter was “showing governmental preference for religion” by designating a Day of Prayer.  The initial ruling in 2010 was in favor of the state.

“Plaintiffs argue that the proclamations excessively entangle government and religion because it facilitates the Colorado Day of Prayer festivities. In light of the fact that most festivities are planned well in advance of the proclamation’s issuance, this argument is not credible,” wrote Judge Michael Mullins. “Announcing that people will in fact gather to celebrate a public holiday does not necessarily involve the state in any way in the planning of religious activities.”

The anti-Christianists then appealed and the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned the lower court decision.

The Supreme Court threw out the case on a 5-2 decision.

“Although we do not question the sincerity of respondents’ feelings, without more, their circuitous exposure to the honorary proclamations and concomitant belief that the proclamations expressed the Governor’s preference for religion is simply too indirect and incidental an injury to confer individual standing,” wrote Chief Justice Nancy Rice.

“To hold otherwise would render the injury-in-fact requirement superfluous, as any person who learned of a government action through the media and felt politically marginalized as a result of that secondhand media exposure would have individual standing to sue the government.”