Wisconsin county bans prayer at public meetings.....Fundies foaming at the mouth

[marmar]

from the No. 1 news source of Dominionists everywhere, the American Family Assn's OneNewsNow:



One complaint bans prayer for Wisc. board meeting
Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow - 2/11/2009 7:00:00 AM


A county government in Wisconsin will no longer open its meetings with prayer, against the will of the majority.

The Dodge County Board of Supervisors has traditionally opened their meetings with prayer for years, until newly-elected Supervisor Dean Fuller complained it was unconstitutional. The Associated Press reports board chairman Russell Kottke received a letter from the atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation, claiming prayer is illegal and suggesting the meetings be opened with a moment of silence.

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel says that is simply not the truth.

"This situation with the Dodge County Board of Supervisors is an example of where some radical separationists are pushing this country. They want to literally eliminate any kind of reference to God or religion," he contends. "Clearly a deliberative body, legislature, or city or county council, or board of supervisors is able to have prayer -- not just silence -- before their meetings."

Fuller admits his stance is an unpopular one, but he vows he is simply upholding the Constitution. However, a fellow supervisor has asked Fuller to step down, which he refuses to do. Another supervisor does not believe Fuller's prayer ban represents the rest of the board's beliefs and suggests letting voters solve the issue at the next election.

Staver laments the measures some government officials will take to silence Christians. "Clearly, I think this is an extreme reaction, indeed an overreaction, one that is not necessary, and one that is regrettable," he notes.

Chairman Kottke says they will stop having public prayer but anticipates many questions will arise on the county board floor. "We will refer them to Mr. Fuller," he concludes.


http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=415572 (if you get Rick-rolled by OneNewsNow's filter, the story's in the onenewsnow area of www.afa.net )

[w4rma]

1. He did the right thing. He'll need support. (nt)

[MineralMan]

2. UnNewsNow is the source of lots of this kind

of nonsense. They're trying to make the decision of some little government body into national news. That trick never works.

[Bandit]

3. Why is it too much to ask for Religious people to keep their religion in their own church

Why do they have to insist that it be brought into public meetings? It is almost as bad as smokers that insist upon smoking in public. Neither serves the public good.

[Javaman]

13. Because if they don't wear it on their sleaves no one will know that they are blessed by god...

it's all about not what you know, but who you know with them. Belief is far down the list.

[JerseygirlCT]

16. That's it, though. They don't even have to do that

nothing to prevent them from saying a prayer before the meeting, at the supermarket, whatever they like.

They can go right on ahead. And then, better yet, they can actually act in accordance with their beliefs and roll up their sleeves and get something good done for other people.

It's the insistence that everyone else must join in prayer with them that's so puzzling.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. I LOVE one news now. Those people are stark raving loonies.

I think that if their imaginary jeezus had his second coming, they'd be the first ones to cast stones.

[CTyankee]

5. Anyone has the right to pray anytime, anywhere on their own. The prayer in the human heart

is evidently not good enough for some folks.

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Exactly

Which makes one very suspicious of their motives.

[JoDog]

6. What a laugh

"Measures...to silence Christians". With no mention or thought to the measures some Christians have taken to silence Jews, Muslims, pagans, Buddhists, etc.

[madaboutharry]

8. Exactly.

The keep insisting that America is "A Christian Nation". Take it from me there are a lot of backwater hicks in Wisconsin who think it is still 1955.

[PVnRT]

7. Odd, I don't see the usual crowd in here denouncing this

Very weird.

[Bill McBlueState]

9. that crowd

That "crowd" seems to have only a specific type of complaint: They get really upset when secular people complain about government entanglement with religion, but they don't seem to mind when government officials actively disentangle themselves from religion.

I can't quite pin down what's going on there.

[Bill McBlueState]

10. One can view this as an experiment

We could pick a nearby county that does open its meetings with prayer. Then, over the next five years or so, look at various statistics to compare the two counties' performances: the condition of their roads, the efficiency of their elections, what have you. It would be pretty simple to test whether opening meetings with prayer makes a bit of difference.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. Fundies foaming at the mouth . . .

now there's something you don't see everyday. :sarcasm:

[pnutbutr]

12. It is unconstitutional, prohibits free exercise

Well, not really since there is no law but praying during government meetings does not violate the constitution since there is no law requiring it. It's up the the discretion of those at the meeting whether they want to or not. Bull like this, trying to tell people that it's a violation of the constitution when it clearly isn't is getting old and annoying.

[remoulade]

14. Can anyone explain why bible beaters reject Matthew 6:5?

International Standard Version (©2008)
"And whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell you with certainty, they have their full reward!

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
"When you pray, don't be like hypocrites. They like to stand in synagogues and on street corners to pray so that everyone can see them. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward.

King James Bible
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

[JerseygirlCT]

17. I don't know

While I think that passage is often misunderstood (there's nothing wrong with praying publicly - it's doing it to show off that's the problem), this would seem to be a perfect example of the problem. If they were so sincere in their beliefs, they could absolutely pray. They just don't have the right to insist that everyone else join them.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. A bit of bias coming through in that article, isn't there?

And, even as a believer, what I never understand about these objections: there's not a thing in the world preventing anyone who so wishes to pray before the meeting. Not a single thing.

The only thing they seem to object to is that they now cannot force EVERYONE to participate in their prayers. I'll never understand that rationale. (It's the same thing with school prayer. Anyone can pray at any time, so long as they're not disrupting. So why the need of some to insist that EVERYONE be part of it?)

[ensho]

19. finally a sane County Board of Supervisors

more power to them - may more CBofS follow suit

[xchrom]

20. good -- takes the heat off Teh Gays for a minute.

;-)

[LeftinOH]

21. The Xtian persecution continues!!

Perhaps there should be purpose-built places in every community where like-minded people of faith could gather to openly pray without any interference.. Oh, wait
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[BurtWorm]

22. Prayer is irrelevant to the business of government.

Its only purpose outside of church, as the article strongly suggests, is to mollify Christians and make them feel politically powerful. That is not the business of government either. If Christians can't get religious satisfaction from their own churches, they're not going to get it anywhere else, least of all in a government setting.

But we can certainly not expect reasoning of any kind to get through to them. They'll go on and on and on whining about being persecuted and never gain the least little insight into the fact that they're no more entitled to hog public time for their pet rituals than any one else.

[Soylent Brice]

23. here's my favorite nugget:

"...They want to literally eliminate any kind of reference to God or religion," he contends.

:cry: crybaby.

yes, mr moran. the sky is falling, and surely everyone knows that public officials can't get their political mojo on without a reference to the invisible boogey man.

this is certainly long overdue. i hope this catches on elsewhere.