More scrutiny of Greece Town Board
Last week, City Paper brought more “mainstream” coverage of the Greece religious intolerance scandal.
Some highlights:
ACLU leaders say the town offers the prayer opportunity only to Christian clergy members, and the clergy make references to Jesus during the prayer. The town is sending a message about which faiths are acceptable, says Pudup.
When the ACLU wrote the Town Board, asking it to require non-sectarian prayers, the town responded by saying it would not change the practice.
[snip]
The US Senate and House of Representatives also open sessions with prayer. Each has a chaplain who regularly leads the prayer. The invocation is typically, though not always, non-sectarian. Senate and House members often invite clergy from their home states. It’s then that references to specific beliefs become more likely. (Congress is making an attempt to vary the religions represented before it. On July 12, the Senate expects to have its first session opened by a Hindu prayer.)
In a 1983 case, Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court ruled that it was permissible for the Nevada Legislature to appoint a chaplain and open meetings with prayer, since the content of the prayers did not serve to “proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief.”
[snip]
Locally, the ACLU hasn’t taken any action on the Greece issue, although its legal committee will discuss it at its next meeting, on July 17.
July 17th is done and gone. What has the local ACLU chapter decided to do? Someone from NYCLU feel like reporting in the comments?
July 12th has also passed us. What happened to the Hindu-style prayer*? Well, I could just leave it as “religious intolerance isn’t found only in suburbs of Rochester”, but I won’t. Instead, here’s a clip from CSPAN proving it:
[ev type="youtube" data="EZ9To30Hz7A"][/ev]
*The prayer itself was pretty non-sectarian:
“We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds.”
Remember that the Town Supervisor, the Town Board, and the Town Attorney are not moderate in their religious beliefs. Most attended religious schools and universities, and they send their children there as well. They are all church-going Christians; true believers.
Given their religious affiliations, some probably believe that it is their Christian duty to push Jesus into civic life as much as possible.
I’m not saying that they’re hard-core dominionists, just that they’ve let their religious beliefs cloud their judgment to the point where they’ve been derelict in interpreting the law.
Is Greece the next Ave Maria, Florida?
As for the C-Span video, who were the people interrupting the prayer? I couldn’t tell what they were saying.
“Lord Jesus, forgive us, Father, for allowing the prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight,” according to WorldNetDaily.
Something along the lines of “Our Lord Jesus will not allow us to worship false Gods?”
The Legal Committee has met and has made a decision that it will not disclose at this time. Another national organization is also getting involved.
The posted video illustrates how the religious right is fighting to promote its brand of religion in Washignton and across the country, including the town of Greece board meetings.
Thanks for commenting, I hope you’ll keep us informed when the time comes.
I’ve sent in a referral here - let’s see if they’ll take them to court:
http://ffrf.org/contact/
“Comment by jolshefsky As for the C-Span video, who were the people interrupting the prayer? I couldn’t tell what they were saying”
…it was probably the Bush twins and their bodyguards.
[...] what does Greece do? well, we have been over this before. There was this post, or this one, City News covered it, why it is wrong, Heck Greece even had a forum about [...]
[...] The Henrietta GOP was looking around for the next Town Supervisor candidate. Brighton sets up the Green Brighton Task Force as the environmental agency for the town. The city’s ambulance contract was up for renewal. Mayor Duffy attended the 75th annual United States Conference of Mayors. The libraries capitulated to Brooks’ demands on censorship, or else they would have been denied funding. Only Republicans showed up to the 4th of July celebrations in Henrietta. The county’s credit rating fell. 376 to 261: voters approved the North East Joint Fire District plan to build and renovate stations in Penfield and Webster. Mayor Duffy marched in the Gay Pride Parade while Brooks was less than enthusiastic. The Greece Town Board and the ACLU were fighting over religious intolerance. [...]