Secular America is praising New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to keep Sunday’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony religion free. Despite enormous pressure from conservative Christians and others eager to inject the divisive subject of religion into the ceremony, Bloomberg held his ground, refusing to be bullied by the faithful.
Conservative Christian organizations like the Catholic League, the Family Research Council, and others claim that exclusion of religion from the ceremony constitutes a bias against religion. Richard Land, from the Southern Baptist Convention, argues:
“Nobody was turning religious leaders away from the scene 10 years ago. Why are they being banned from the 10th anniversary? The only answer, pure and simple, is anti-religious prejudice.”
However, those complaining about Bloomberg’s decision fail to note that the annual event is meant to focus on the victims’ families, and that the event has never included clergy or religious invocations. Indeed, many religious representatives were happy with Bloomberg’s decision to keep the September 11 ceremony free of sectarian promotion.
Mayor Bloomberg explained his controversial decision this way:
“It’s a civil ceremony. There are plenty of opportunities for people to have their religious ceremonies. Some people don’t want to go to a religious ceremony with another religion. And the number of different religions in this city are really quite amazing.”
“It isn’t that you can’t pick and choose, you shouldn’t pick and choose. If you want to have a service for your religion, you can have it in your church or in a field, or whatever.”
The following is a sample of relevant tweets, both pro and con, from Sunday’s Twitter stream:
Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg for keeping the 9/11 memorial secular. Keep the focus on remembering the events.
A Sadly Secularized 9/11: Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York may think himself high-minded and practical.
#Evangelicals should stop using 9/11 ceremony to score #political points
Exclusion of Prayer at 9/11 Service Ignores Role of Religion in America // Bloomberg is an ass!!
Kudos to Bloomberg for leaving religion out of the 9/11ceremony. Cc @NYCMayorsOffice
Thank you Mike Bloomberg for keeping religion out of Sunday's 9/11 ceremony. Last words spoken before the planes hit "God is great." #fb
This weekend the Center for Inquiry, an organization devoted to the promotion of a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values; issued the following statement encouraging secular Americans to thank Mayor Bloomberg for his leadership and wisdom in this manner:
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) firmly believes that any official remembrance of the 9/11 attacks should represent all American citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, or lack thereof. In other words, it should be a secular ceremony, as Mayor Bloomberg has decided. CFI urges its members, as strong advocates for the separation of church and state, to show their support for Bloomberg’s decision by contacting the mayor in any of the following ways:
Mail:
The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor of New York City
City Hall
New York, NY 10007Web:
Contact formPhone: 311 (or 212-639-9675 outside NYC)
Fax: 212-312-0700
What do you think? Will you thank Mayor Bloomberg for his controversial decision to keep the ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks free of religion?
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