Rev. Alan Kimber leads invocation at recent city council meeting.
The Lodi City Council is considering a resolution that would ban the mention of Jesus and other specific religions in prayers before city meetings.
The council discussed the issue in closed session last month, because the Northern California city is facing legal action. In May, the Lodi City Council received a letter from the non-profit Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatening a lawsuit, according to the Lodi News-Sentinel.
The atheistic group watched 55 invocations online from 2007 to the May 6 council meeting and found that 39 had a reference to Jesus Christ. The group argues that specific mentions of the word "Christ" are a violation of the city's own policy.
The move is meeting resistance from two Christian organizations, according to CitizenLink.com, a Focus on the Family publication.
The Pray in Jesus' Name Project and the Will of God Christian Center both favor allowing religiously specific prayers. They have scheduled a prayer vigil on the City Council steps the day of the vote, Aug. 5. They are also distributing an online petition aimed at pressuring the council to abandon the effort.
Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt of the Pray in Jesus' Name Project told the Lodi News-Sentinel: "We want the council members to know we support them if they are going to stand against the enemies of religious liberty who want to silence free speech and censor the name of Jesus out of our prayers."
More articles by Alex Murashko can be found at LA Church & State Examiner.
Comments
Christian American Retards.
You just gotta love em.
Why not leave ALL invocations and prayers out of government meetings? Any evidence it does anything but waste time and risk offending somebody to no purpose? Do the folks in Lodi lack churches in which to to pray? Why would that be the problem of the city/state?
Everybody is so over dramatic about it. Who cares what is said in the invocation one way or the other? If you are a Christian leader - pray before the meeting that the Holy Spirit will guide your decisions to the proper outcome. If you are an atheist participant - complain when the application of religion is given to a specific issue instead of how the members open a meeting (ie - If a business is shut down for not upholding Christian ideals)
Our nation needs to stop making religious wars out of every small offense.
A smart commentary: www.sacbee.com/1190/story/2098417.html
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