The Atheists of Florida
The Atheists of Florida decided to stage a civil protest at Tampa’s City Council meeting this morning as a way to voice their opposition to opening the meeting with an invocation, which can be secular, but more often then not is religious. Several members of the Atheists of Florida attended the meeting this morning and used the public comments period to voice their opposition and to encourage the city council to adopt a moment of reflection instead.
The controversy over opening the meetings with a prayer has been brewing for some time. Recently Rob Curry, president of the Atheists of Florida had sent a letter to Mayor Pam Iorio asking her to stop the practice. The letter makes clear that the Atheists of Florida is less concerned with the fact that there are prayers as they are with the fact that the City has published guidelines on what sort of prayer is appropriate at government meetings. They argue in their letter that “a moment of reflection does not subvert any faith, does not demean anyone's intellect, does not single anyone out, and does not tempt city officials to censor speech by making up rules (however well-meaning) to establish how the government wants us to pray.”
Mayor Pam Iorio responded to the letter by indicating that she believes prayer is an appropriate way to start governmental meetings.
Read the Atheists of Florida letter to Pam Iorio here
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