ATLANTA --- A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a suburban Atlanta county's practice of allowing clergy to open meetings with Christian prayers, saying the federal judiciary should not wade into the practice of editing prayer.

The three-judge panel's 2-1 decision rejected a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union that sought to ban Cobb County officials from starting commission meetings with prayers from invited clergy.

County officials said clergy from all faiths are allowed to deliver the prayers, but ACLU lawyers contended the invocations are "overtly Christian prayers" that send a message that the religion is sponsored by the county.

The ruling, written by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Bill Pryor, concluded that courts should avoid parsing the content of prayers as long as they're not used to advance a particular religion or disparage another faith.

"Whether invocations of 'Lord of Lords' or 'the God of Abraham, Issac, and Mohammed' are 'sectarian' is best left to theologians, not courts of law," read the 42-page opinion.

In a dissent, U.S. District Judge Donald Middelbrooks said he, too, was uneasy at the prospect of the judiciary editing prayer. But he said allowing county commissions to sponsor prayer presents a "similar, although less direct, danger."

"When state-sponsored prayer is a perfunctory and sterile exercise marking the beginning of a commission agenda, religion becomes the casualty," he wrote.

In his 20-page opinion, he suggested drawing the line at invocations of Congress and state legislatures.