Thursday, July 22, 2010
Religion ACLU settles with NLR on prayer
Posted by Max Brantley on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 3:01 PM
The Arkansas chapter of the ACLU says it is satisfied with North Little Rock's response to a complaint about the sectarian prayers that have routinely opened City Council meetings.
The city attorney met with city council members to discuss the law, the importance of being an inclusive community, the history of prayer before city council meetings, and the personal nature of prayer. The city responded to the ACLU and indicated that it would use a system of rotational prayer that would include other faiths as well as non-sectarian prayer. In addition, the city opted to include a statement on future city agendas and broadcasts of meetings that the city welcomes diverse cultures and beliefs and that any religious viewpoints expressed during the invocation or at any other time during city council meetings reflected only the personal opinion of the speaker and was not intended to proselytize, advance or disparage any particular faith.After receiving the response of the city attorney, the ACLU reaffirmed its opinion the council’s practice of offering a sectarian prayer runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution because when only one sectarian viewpoint is routinely expressed, it has the purpose and effect of advancing one faith or belief to the exclusion of others. However, the ACLU’s interest and that of the concerned residents was to see that the practice was no longer the status quo for the city. While the ACLU felt that the better policy would be to recognize that
any prayer by city officials sends the wrong message to a diverse citizenry, it recognized that the law permits non-sectarian prayer.
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Comments (18)
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I'm going to file a lawsuit if they don't include druid worship/service prayer in that. I'm being discriminated against. I'll sue, I'm not joking. All faiths must be represented.
We should start a new government agency to spend a few more billion in tax payer money to study every single religion ever devised by man on earth, in order to make sure we have an accurate account and catalogue of every religion in order to make sure they are all represented.
I've been praying a lot about this.....
Why not 45 seconds of poetry reading before the meetings. Or a recap of the previous day's sport scores? Or a reading of the names of Arkansas soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan?
A quick look at North Little Rock history would show that God hasn't been paying any attention to previous prayers offered up.
I'd go for prayer before meetings if they'd make sure and choose a prayer from each of the top 22 major religions found in the US of A in rotation. I'll provide this handy list to choose from. And remember for Church of Christ...can't have no musical instruments playing in the background.
Public prayer doesn't offend me. Choosing just one brand is what offends me.
Christianity: 2.1 billion
Islam: 1.5 billion
Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
Hinduism: 900 million
Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
Buddhism: 376 million
primal-indigenous: 300 million
African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
Sikhism: 23 million
Juche: 19 million
Spiritism: 15 million
Judaism: 14 million
Baha'i: 7 million
Jainism: 4.2 million
Shinto: 4 million
Cao Dai: 4 million
Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
Tenrikyo: 2 million
Neo-Paganism: 1 million
Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
Scientology: 500 thousand
I'm with you on that, ActMax. Or, alternatively, we could either encourage non-Pharisees to run for office OR just stop the public praying and get down to the governing.
The love affair that elected officials have with public prayer never ceases to amaze me, although I guess it shouldn't when these folks are depending on votes from the masses in order to keep their jobs.
It's especially puzzling in light of what the Bible says about making a big ole fussy show of things.
Matthew 6:6 (KJV): But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Neo-Paganism sounds cool, wonder what you have to do to get into that religion. Like maybe vow to travel on a bicycle to the end of the world and bow down in a direction facing towards the north star when the sky is blue on the 8th day of the week?
And I'm confused, who would the Atheist pray to?
I'm an atheist and it would be more like a wish than a prayer.
"Let this meeting be a productive meeting. ON WITH THE SHOW!"
As a previous poster mentioned, this is just a way to get votes (prayer at city council meetings).
As a home-churched disbeliever let me say this to the City Council.
Don't pray at meetings and I won't think in your church.
Congress has opened with a prayer for over 200 years now. We can all see the efficacy of that.
You hafta keep up springdale_
DBI listed Tenrikyo. That particular religion has a Terriaki branch under which you will find Pastafarianism.
I'll go along with any-ones prayer as long as they have irrefutable evidence that there God and/or spiritual being has ever answered a prayer! I feel safe.
Personally I resent the fact that each month at a senior citizen pot luck we are led in some wild bible belting prayer (sounds more baptist that anything else) and the pledge with the "under God" thingy! But as a guess I keep my mouth shut -- but some day who knows!
I resented having to say "under god" when I had to swear in for jury duty. I was fine with it until that part.
::sigh::
You're all going to hell. It has been proven. The same scientist that have proven global warming have proven this too. And as you say, their evidence is not refutable.
Friend of mine always maintained that if you wanted to have a lot of good prayer in a public place what you really needed was a math test. No math exam is ever pulled off without energy being directed to the Almighty for assistance.
Called to jury duty in Greenwood AR & told the judge he could take me as I am or send me home I would not swear to any deity. I was seated on the jury.
Lorax is correct. Jesus was not a fan of public prayers. Neither should people of genuine faith. When faith and government are intertwined, it's the community of faith that is damaged/warped. Just look around at people of so-called "faith" who are doing everything they can to put down others in order to maintain their own perceived security. People who claim to be Christian and support the Tea Party and Secure Arkansas, etc. need to read the gospel of Luke.
And I'm honestly curious. What would be a "non-sectarian" prayer?
What a crock! Suppose I am a new City Council member and, by the luck of the draw, it is my turn to offer a prayer. As an atheist, I say, "No prayer tonight, let's get to work on the public's business." How persuasive would my arguments be for the rest of the meeting.
OK, as a good politician, I should offer up some non-sectarian hypocritical bullshit?
Classic! A solution that satisfies noone and outright pisses off most. Personally, I think that religion does more harm than good, but this crock is as useless to the average Baptist as it is to godless swine like me. When we accept this sort of thing we probably deserve worse.
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