Barron County, W.I. government officials open every meeting with a prayer -- which is something the Freedom From Religion Foundation has requested to cease. That's because the mingling of Christian prayer with politics in a government institution is a violation of the separation of church and state, whether or not it's "tradition." The New American reported the details of this violation on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013 -- but the writer of the piece, Dave Bohon, appears to be biased against atheists, as well as misinformed on why the FFRF interferes with situations like these.
According to the FFRF, there are residents of Barron County who are upset about the practice of opening government meetings with Christian prayer, and when they requested the practice to cease they provided precedent of courts siding against government led prayers. Instead of honoring the law of the U.S. Constitution, it looks like the members of the county government are going to "thumb their noses" at the atheist organization, meaning the prayer meetings will continue regardless of any requests made by them.
If history is any indicator of what might come, then government officials of Barron County may be bracing themselves for a lawsuit regarding a violation of federal laws. This is a shame, because when cities and counties are sued, the officials are truly not the ones who come out the losers. The lawsuits that are lost by these officials for their missteps come directly out of the pockets of taxpayers.
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