Non-theists in the city: Gray off on the wrong foot

Dear Mr. Silverman,
Praying is something done by people who believe there is someone listening "on the other end of the phone". People who do not believe there is anyone on the other end, or any phone, for that matter, need not feel insulted to be uninvited. One does not invite Nazis to Bar-Mitzvahs, nor cats to mouse family reunions. It's not polite to do so. If you want equal time, have the mayor invite all those non-theists to a meeting at which you "un-pray" or express your feelings in other ways. But you would feel rather ridiculous at a prayer meeting anyway, so why fret? You have said you oppose public prayer, so why should you expect an invitation? I don't invite kids who say they hate my kids to their birthday parties... and they are not offended by the lack of invitation.
If we expect no prayer in public, we could throw out the constitutional convention and the declaration of independence, as well as many meetings of congress, since prayer and invoking the name of God was featured in those. The foundations of our laws come from the Judeo-Christian tradition, and we ask witnesses to put their hand on the Bible when swearing in. If you have determined to be offended by these cultural realities, you will stumble from offense to offense through a long life.
Humanists might note that a vast majority of humans throughout all recorded history have found seeking God or gods a foundational act of human expression. This should not offend you, or you should call yourself "anti-humanists" rather than humanists.
Is it discrimination that KKK members are not invited to NAACP meetings? If not, then you should not feel discriminated against. Must a mayor, or elected official, invite all his or her constituency to every possible gathering?
No act of American government ever disallowed any religious expression in public or through government acts. Rather, they protected various expressions of religion so they COULD be expressed without repression. You are as free as any others in that expression.

This was an official government inauguration event. Calling it "One City ... Praying Together" does not change it into a private religious ceremony. Nor should such an event that clearly mixes church and state even be permitted with taxpayer dollars (especially with non-religious taxpayers' dollars).

All this shows us is that the new mayor and many of his supporters are bigots. Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray should resign. We don't need bigots in office.

Dear Secular Coalition,

You can't! You just can't. You just can't go pray at (what appears to be) a government sponsored prayer meeting. What you CAN do, however, is to publicize at great length how inappropriate and unfortunate this event would be (for all the reasons Dr. Silverman points out.)

This is a topic to which I have given a lot of thought. Though I think it is important for non-theists to "come out", I do not think that a prayer service (let alone a government organized prayer service) is the appropriate venue. Non-theism is not a religion and non-theists do not pray. The separation of church and state should eliminate government sponsored/organized prayer services, but that is another issue (of equal/greater importance).

It's unfortunate non-theists have to compromise by asking to be included in a government ceremony that in part violates the constitution. It's a situation forced on us because many Christians interpret "freedom of region" as, free to force their beliefs on all citizens by government fiat. A correct reading of the Establishment Clause indicates: Government shall be completely neutral of all matter of religion. Injecting Christianity or any religion into a government ceremony is a blatant violation of the first amendment.

I think it is wrong for the Gray administration to start off with a special event for a constituency that is explicitly separated from and protected from civil government. This more than a nod, to the religiously inclined, though meant to promote unity, only serves to provoke divisiveness in an area where government should be mute. The prayer service called “One City – Praying Together” clearly excludes non-praying, non-theists ( 15% of the city) and because of its religiosity, should NOT be part of any official government agenda. Is this religious service being paid for with government funds? As for “including nontheistic citizens in the ceremony.” I don’t know why they would even want to be there – listening to all those prayers and incantations with which we do not agree. Besides, attending such a religiously inspired and motivated event would seem to condone it and sanction such displays of religiosity within government activities. I for one do not.

Washington's Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray and his inauguration arrangements are the symptoms not the cause. Phrases like “In God We Trust” and “One Nation Under God” on our dollar notes and in our constitution tell us that we have a long way to go. Most people wrongfully think that patriotism and morals only come by believing in God. Yet, this God needs to be clearly defined since there are many completely different and contradictory Gods and their strange followers in this country and around the world.

I respectfully recommend that the Secular Coalition for America AVOID participating in any event labelled "Praying Together", because that only gives more ammunition to the Dominionists who erroneously contend that atheism, secular humanism, ethical culture, etc. are religions. They are not, and they should not engage in religious rituals, especially ones as utterly worthless and time-wasting as prayer.

When will we realize that the unity we seek we already have: we are all human beings.

Religion may offer some benefits, but those benefits are often overshadowed by the divisions religion causes and/or exacerbates as well as the magical thinking it promotes.

If Mayor-elect Gray gets away with this, we are one step closer to a theocracy. Is it any wonder that we are concerned?