In an effort to maintain their tradition of prayer to open its Board of Commissioners meeting, Cobb County (GA) officials hit upon what must have seemed like a brilliant solution: open the prayer process to everyone so there can be no charges of religious preference. When Edward Buckner got a chance to lead the invocation Tuesday, the atheist offered a protest, rather than a prayer.
What Buckner did was thumb his nose at what he believed was an unconstitutional cross-section of religion and government, he admitted in his words Tuesday night.
Rather than any form of deity, he invoked “the 700,000 people who live in this county — especially the majority (yes, over half) of those 700,000 who are not members of any church, mosque, temple, or other religious organization,” he said.
Commissioners and others of faith were of course offended and insulted. But they should turn their disgust toward those who are intent on having a government body open meetings with religious expression.
Pray in church; pray in your own home; pray privately anywhere you like, or gather in public spaces and pray: in the park, outside the courthouse, around the flagpole before or after school; but the very last place to expect a solemn religious evocation is at an official government exercise. If you demand one, you'll get what you are asking for: a circus. People of faith should instead demand the opposite: don't sully religion by using the state to promote it. No more government-sponsored prayer.
