As reported today in the Modesto Bee:
“Turlock puts ‘trust in God’” By Patty Guerra
“This community is one that was built on faith and trust in God,” said Dan Blank. “We were fortunate tonight to have a word of prayer to begin this meeting. … We appreciate what you do, but we appreciate even more our Father in heaven.”
The council unanimously passed a resolution that allows for invocations before the opening of meetings despite an appeal from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which sent a letter to the city last month asking the council to halt the practice, calling such prayers “unnecessary, inappropriate and divisive.”
Atheist Susan Robins tried to explain why a prayer is a bad idea by pointing out that prayers, unlike a moment of silence, must be open to every religion, including Satanists and Scientologists. Robins then tried to explain just why atheists find Christianity unappealing.
“You should understand how nonbelievers find invocations.” (Robins said).
In a comment met with gasps from the audience of about 150, Robinson said that she could find passages in the Bible that show God in a poor light: “We have a hard time understanding how anyone can worship such an evil character.” (emphasis mine)
Numbers 31 is a pretty good example of this. But there are plenty of New Testament passages that are also very disturbing to nonbelievers.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a press release on August 18 to announce it had sent letters of complaint to the Turlock City Council. You can read the FFRF press release here. Now that Turlock has responded, it is up to the FFRF to proceed with legal action or to drop the case.
If you are an atheist living in Turlock, or if you are someone who believes in the Separation of State and Church, then you are encouraged to contact the FFRF and offer your support. You can contact the FFRF through their contact page by clicking here.
The Stanislaus Skeptics have been keeping a close eye on this. You can support the Stanislaus Skeptics by visiting their web site here.
