As requested by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the city of Chesapeake, Va., is telling clergy who pray before City Council meetings that their prayers must be nonsectarian.
The Foundation sent a letter to Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff in June that said the prayers offered at the start of council meetings were all sectarian, which is a direct violation of rulings by appeals courts. Foundation attorney Rebecca Kratz noted that "Jesus Christ" was invoked in every prayer during the months of March, April and May 2009. That will no longer be the case if the city enforces its new policy:
"Based on Constitutional interpretations rendered by the United States Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, the invocation should be nonsectarian with elements of the American civil religion and should offer the members of City Council a time of reflection and encouragement. The prayer should not be used to proselytize or advance any one faith or belief, nor should it be used to disparage any other faith or belief.
"The letters of invitation and confirmation, samples of which are attached, should remind religious leaders to refrain from making references that are specific to any particular religion, denomination or sect or that promote particular religious figures, deities, images or symbols. The invocation should be seen as an opportunity to convey a common message of shared values and ideals derived from our American heritage."
The purpose of invocations, said City Clerk Dolores Moore, "is to invoke divine guidance for the members of the City Council as they conduct public business." A letter to clergy who may participate said the city wants to include all denominations: "No one religion or denomination is preferred over any other, nor should any religion be disparaged. Invocations are welcome, not as an opportunity to advance a particular religion or system of beliefs, but as a time of reflection and encouragement that will be meaningful to the members of City Council and show respect for the rich diversity of beliefs found in Chesapeake.
"In order to find common ground in shared beliefs, the policy asks that the invocation not proselytize, nor reference any particular religious figure, image or symbol. Teachings and prayers should reflect universal values, rather than beliefs unique to a particular religion or recitations from a particular scripture. The invocation should be inclusive and embracive, in accord with the ideals of American culture and heritage."
Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president, said the policy may meet the technical legal requirements, but it still violates the spirit of the Constitution and its wall of state-church separation. "What disturbs me is the reference to 'the American civil religion,' which is a contradiction in terms and doesn't exist. If the founders of our god-free Constitution did not need 'divine guidance,' we are at a loss as to why Chesapeake council members need to pray over lapsed liquor licenses and broken sewer mains.
"Our members oppose governmental prayer, period," Gaylor said. "It excludes the 15 percent of the U.S. population that is nonreligious."
Comments
I have a problem with 'non-sectarian' seeking persons based on the following two quotes from your article;
"The purpose of invocations, said City Clerk Dolores Moore, 'is to invoke divine guidance for the members of the City Council as they conduct public business.'"
"The invocation should be seen as an opportunity to convey a common message of shared values and ideals derived from our American heritage."
It is difficult for me to believe any one clergy would be able to pray for "DIVINE GUIDANCE" without "INVOKING" the name of their God. Otherwise one can not logically use the term "INVOCATION".
Another peice of this article I have a problem with is this,
"Court of Appeals, the invocation should be nonsectarian with elements of the American civil religion..."
I don't know who the God of The American Cival Religion is. It is reminiscent of The Romans who worshipped The PAX Romana (The Spirit of Rome). It sounds as if there is a God being invoked.
One more thought occurred to me. I was not able to fit this on the last comment. It is in these words;
"ideals of American culture and heritage."
How is it that persons on any level of American Government will find encouragement by the "INVOCATION" (which will not "INVOKE" the name of any deity) if they are to consider the "ideals of American culture and heritage"? One does not have to look too far from any public square or historical monument to the Country of The United States to find a mention of the God who has encouraged the people and leaders of this country. And to look into the historical structures and documents of these United States we see the heritage we have today as positively Christian.
It seems oxymoronic that one would ask for prayer that does not call on a specific deity. Another observation is that who decides where the line is between endorsement and disparagement. Some have a strong tendency to equate the mere mention of a competing worldview, as slanderous and hate speech. I would be very much interested in how they will implement this and if anyone would be willing to be bound by the guidelines. Personally, I would just have to say "Thanks, but I have a prior appointment praying to my God for you."
For all the reasons pointed out by "Richmond Evangelical Examiner" and Ray, and for many other reasons, it seems that the easiest way to have a clear policy that favors no religion is to have there be no invocations of any religious nature at all. There are many many many houses of worship where individual citizens can pray, and they can also do so in the many millions of private homes, and they can even do so in every park, every street corner, etc., etc..... Do religious believers REALLY need to make the GOVERNMENT have some prayer associated with official GOVERNMENT functions (town meetings, inaugurations, etc)?
If a town committee meets once a month, would it be so hard to NOT pray aloud during that one hour per month, out of respect for those citizens of OTHER beliefs than the speaker's, and out of respect for the constitution of our fantastic country? Is that too much to ask??
Peter,
I must say, I was not advocating the ban of prayer. In fact, I am currently working on an article that will show that Trina Hoaks is wrong. I am also interested to see if she can provide links to her facts.
In my article, you will see the many court cases, statements from Supreme Court Judges and most important, The Bill of Rights all favor the tradition of invocation.
Evangelical Richmond, there are also traditions of burning women as witches, but those superstitions don't make sense either and similarly they don't belong as a government endorsed activity.
Tradition is a sorry excuse for a bad practice. If tradition is your first line of defense, you are on shaky ground.
There are better ways to build an argument than based on tradition (a tradition of religious majority imposing its icons, holidays, greetings, prayers, etc., on those in the minority).
Try building a decision/opinion based on reason, rationality, inclusiveness, unity, common ground, etc.
aaaah the good old 'we are a christian nation' meme again.
ok, Richmond Evangelical Examiner, maybe you might want to educate yourself:
www infidels org / library / modern / farrell_till / myth html
Suggested official non-sectarian civil religion prayer, for use in all sorts of public gatherings and civil...
Oh great and glorious Oz... er... oops. Oh great and glorious invisible, magical, all-powerful, supernatural sky-fairy... creator of all things and stuff... in the unlikely event that you actually exist apart from the moronic imaginings of bamboozled sheep and the insidious lies and manipulations of their shepherds... please keep us fully aware of your divine virtues and values (gullibility, self-deception, self-delusion, willful ignorance, irrationality, intellectual dishonesty, lies, hypocrisy, and toxic, drooling stupidity), and let them remain at the forefront of our minds, so that our mindfulness might allow us to avoid them, and keep them from contaminating these proceedings. Ramen.
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