In May 2009, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) informed the Lodi City Council that they must stop allowing pastors to offer sectarian prayers during the City Council invocation.
The FFRF has a very good case against the City of Lodi. Not only is this a First Amendment violation, but it also violates the rules as stated in the Lodi City Council Protocol Manual, which states that, “Invocations are to be non-sectarian and non-denominational”. (PDF link to Protocol Manual.)
Praying “in the name of Jesus Christ” is definitely sectarian and denominational.
There has been a great kerfuffle about this in the pages of the Lodi News-Sentinel. There are rational people commenting on this story, and there are a small but very loud and persistent group of other than rational people. The comments to the several newspaper stories are both amusing and scary.
However, one respectable, rational Lodi group has formed out of this quagmire, and is doing an admirable job of cutting through the hype and giving the whole story. I’d recommend everyone to take a look at this group, “Lodi United“.
Lodi United is a community of atheists, secularists and religious followers who promote the separation of Church and State in Lodi California. They include both religious people of several faiths, and non-religious people. Their website contains the whole story and time line of the discussion between the FFRF and the Lodi City Council.
They are also active in other ways. Tomorrow, Wednesday August 5th from 5:15 to 7:15 PM, members of Lodi United will be protesting in a rally to support the separation of Church and State. Members of Stanislaus Skeptics will also be on hand to lend their support.
This rally is out of range for most of us in the San Joaquin Valley, but if you live near Modesto, you may be able to attend. If you do attend, please let CVAAS know how it went!
