Members of the town board for Greece, N.Y., bow for prayer before a recent meeting.
By Joe Palazzolo
At a recent meeting of the Osceola County, Fla., board of commissioners, many attendees bowed their heads in silence as they listened to an invocation delivered by an atheist.
“Habit, I guess,” says David Williamson of Central Florida Freethought Community, who, in lieu of calling on the almighty, invoked the spirit of goodwill during his roughly one-minute speech.
Mr. Williamson, the first nonbeliever invited to perform the county ritual, is among a handful of atheists around the country who have given or are scheduled to give invocations before local-government meetings. The speeches have championed self-government, the human condition, intellectual openness and minority viewpoints.
At the same time, several town boards that had done away with prayers that include references to specific faiths are trying to revive them.
The groundswell is a reaction to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May that sanctioned prayers before meetings of the town board in Greece, N.Y. The court rejected arguments that the overwhelmingly Christian prayers gave preference to one faith and violated the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion.
Read more at http://online.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-ruling-gives-atheists-a-prayer-1405391861
3 Comments. Leave new
Include in this the Graduation speeches that are now being regulated by the schools, whether people of “no faith” like it or not, we are a traditionaly Christian nation, and a small group of busy bodies jack@$$es are trying to ruin it for everybody. Regardless of liberal or conservative politics, we need God now more than ever in public life
as some of you may not know, Greece, NY is the home town of one of the most outspoken Catholic end times prophets, John Leary. he reportedly has been receiving messages from Jesus for over 20 years. i have met John and heard him speak in public. he is absolutely a credible witness for Christ. the atheist response may be in part motivated by this. i have noticed the same type of atheist reaction when i try to spread the end times message, in general, it stirs up a reaction.
…and if there is no god?. .. you idiot!