More than a year after the Grand Junction City Council adopted a policy it thought would squelch a controversy over prayer at the beginning of its meetings, a national foundation is making it clear its concerns haven’t subsided.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., has purchased and put up a billboard on North Avenue west of 29 1/2 Road that reads “Keep Religion OUT of Government,” an expression of dissatisfaction with how council members and Mesa County commissioners pray at the beginning of their meetings. The billboard will be up for at least a month.
The city and county, while refusing to discontinue invocations, have made adjustments to how they pray. Commissioners moved the prayer to before the official start of the meeting. Council members broadened the range of invocators invited to give an address and discouraged people from using the invocation as an opportunity to proselytize.
But Anne Landman, a member of the foundation as well as the group Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers, said she believes local governments still cross a First Amendment line.
She called the county’s change “a legal end run” that isn’t “very up-front and honest.”
“It technically makes no difference because technically when commissioners are together it’s a public meeting,” Landman said. “Clearly they still want to make it part of the meeting.”
Commissioner Janet Rowland dismissed the concerns of the two organizations, saying, “It’s really just a vocal minority that wants to continue to talk about this.
“There is a long-standing history in our country, from its founding, of prayer before public meetings. It continues today from Washington, D.C., to the statehouse. For it to continue today in our courthouse is fine.”
As for the city, Landman said city officials continue to refuse to instruct invocators not to name a specific deity, which she said would avoid advertising a certain religion. Council members have said they will not try to limit what an invocator says.
Landman claimed that out of the nearly 200 people and organizations who have expressed interest in giving invocations at City Council meetings, all but eight or 10 are Christian-based. She said several Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers members have submitted their names to the city as interested invocators but have yet to be selected.
“The statistics are pretty well stacked against diversity,” she said.
Mayor Bruce Hill did not return a phone message Thursday to comment for this story.
Landman said WCAF continues to monitor prayer at city and county meetings. She said she didn’t know whether the organization would send further formal correspondence to either the County Commission or City Council.
Email MIKE WIGGINS
Comments
By Scott
Oct 10, 2009 6:53 PM | Link to this
Make up your mind, will you? You keep waffling between "not praying is pushing atheism" to "not praying isn't pushing atheism". Which is it?
You agreed that not praying at banks or grocery stores does not push atheism. So why do you keep saying that not praying at government meetings does?
By greg
Oct 10, 2009 6:43 PM | Link to this
No I am not. My mother wishes I would go to church, but I don't need to. I do believe that there is a higher power but I don't go around pushing my beliefs on other people. If they want to believe then that's up to them. if they don't want to believe, then don't. its no skin off my back. And what evidence from a 100 years ago do you have. In every state and in every city the people that believed gave thanks before meetings for what they had and the ones that didn't believe could have careless and went about their business. And bad arguments. its only bad because you know I'm right. And I will not argue the point with you anymore.
By Scott
Oct 10, 2009 5:47 PM | Link to this
You would not be breaking the law because you are (presumably) not a government official presiding over an official meeting. That detail makes all the difference, but it is almost always ignored by those who advocate trampling the rights of minority groups.
Are you sure that no one ever complained 50 or 100 years ago? I'd like to see some evidence of that. Especially since I know otherwise.
And you sure sound like a religious person. You use all the same bad arguments.
By greg
Oct 10, 2009 5:03 PM | Link to this
Scott you have the right to your opinion. And that is that there should be no prayer in Government run Buildings or by officials. So what would happen if I were to go downtown to the Fed building and start praying, am I going to be breaking law? If so then the Government has already dictated what I can and can not do. Is that right?
But you never answered my question About the 100 years ago or 50 years ago. No one ever complained then, Did it ruin anybody? So Why now? what makes it so different from back then? we had the same rights to stand up and say something about it back then but didn't. oh that's right the big bang theory and Darwin, now since some one said there is no God, we get all the nut cases out there just doing what ever they please because they know that there is no Heaven or Hell. Like I said I'm not a religious person, but I do know that there was a lot more honesty and morals in this country when we did believe we could go to hell for doing something wrong. I'm going to end this with. you believe in what you want and I'll believe in what I want.
By Scott
Oct 10, 2009 12:57 PM | Link to this
Beat down?
Only if you consider being disagreed with as being "beat down". Of course, by that definition just about everyone there gets "beat down".
By oh brother
Oct 10, 2009 12:17 PM | Link to this
Scott why don't you go back the the forum playground ..... ohh thats right...you get pretty beat down over there. . . guess its easier pickins here huh?
By Scott
Oct 10, 2009 9:39 AM | Link to this
greg,
Separation of Church and State is all the reason we need. If religion is allowed in government, then government is allowed in religion. Do you want the government telling you what to believe? If the government does not show favoritism towards any one belief, then all are free to believe as they wish. As soon as that line is crossed, those with differing beliefs are marginalized. You yourself mentioned the 20%. What if it were 25%? What if it were 49%? Should those non-Christians remain silent just because they are not quite a majority?
Like it or not, what your are defending is tyranny of the majority, and that is exactly what the Bill of Rights was set up to prevent. It doesn't matter if the non-believers are 20%, or even 1%. Their rights are just as important as the majority's rights. The problem that many seem to miss is that sectarian prayer at government meetings is not, and never has been a right.
By Slikrok593
Oct 10, 2009 6:24 AM | Link to this
Charles Darwin was not a god , however he was very religious and remained a believing Christian all his life . If he were alive , he would pray for Anne Landman and forgive her of her many sins !
By clear
Oct 10, 2009 1:36 AM | Link to this
TheistNot sorry but you are wrong and there is Not any chance you canNot know it. many prayers for awakened wisdom sent your way.
By theistnot
Oct 9, 2009 11:21 PM | Link to this
I find the billboard refreshing. Religion is absolutely the last thing we need in government. It's actually the last thing we need, period. Relying on ancient myths for guidance is foolish. For the world to progress, religion must die.
Religion... Now we know better!
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