Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Greece Town Meeting Atheist Invocation


Dan Courtney
I met Dan Courtney recently at a board meeting of the Rochester chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and was excited to learn that he was the atheist who had applied to deliver the first non-religious invocation at a Greece town meeting since the Supreme Court decision, in which the conservative court members reasoned that continuing the mostly Christian prayer was ok because it was part of a tradition – these guys would have fit right in with the majority in Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v. Ferguson...  He seemed very intelligent and reasonable, and all of the recent press led me to believe he would give a concise and dispassionate non-prayer (which he did).

According to 13 WHAM News, “Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich said the town is trying to be more inclusive…than the Supreme Court offered,” yet he has “turned away others because they wanted to make a mockery of this.  One said he told the town he worshipped spaghetti.”  Yes, satire is lost on the town of Greece, which apparently has never heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!  Still, it seems a slippery slope for the town supervisor to be in the business of deciding which religions and mythical deities are “genuine” and which are not…
 
Linda Stephens

I got to the town hall early, in anticipation of a large crowd.  Many secular humanists had turned out for the event, including Linda Stephens, the atheist plaintiff in the case (whom I’d also met and been impressed with at the AU meeting), and a large contingent from the Center for Inquiry. We only had to pass one Jesus nut on our way in, and he later made his point by loudly repeating the “under God” phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance.  Almost all of the 110 seats in the meeting room were filled, and people stood along the walls, as well.  The podium was cluttered with TV microphones, and camera crews, which I suspect were unusual for a routine town meeting, located themselves strategically to film Dan as he spoke.  There were probably very few in the audience who were actually Greece residents there to hear the mundane business on the agenda (like authorizing bid dates for the purchase of police vehicles and authorizing a contract for data center services).

 







It was quickly apparent that most of us were there in support of the “atheist invocation,” which Justice Scalia couldn’t imagine in his narrow-mindedness.  The board filed in a few minutes before 6pm, and a hush descended on the room.  After the Pledge, Dan was invited to give the invocation.  He thanked the board for letting him speak, on behalf of freethinkers, atheists, and non-believers, and referenced the Declaration of Independence in his two-minute delivery, reminding the officials that their duty is to “heed the counsel of the governed, to seek the wisdom of all citizens.”  The board members were mostly respectful, either watching Dan or bowing their heads (although one or two looked a bit impatient to have this done with…).  There was no “amen,” just an eruption of applause after Dan thanked the board.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF
The room emptied and most of us reassembled on the lawn for some short speeches given by Ron Lindsay (president of the Center for Inquiry), David Niose (past president of the American Humanist Association), Greg Lipper (Senior Litigation Counsel for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State), and Annie Laurie Gaylor (Co-Founder and Co-President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation).  Someone passed out “One in Five” signs (signifying the percentage of non-religious Americans) which we proudly held for the cameras.  The speakers focused on the message of inclusion, and encouraged the non-believers to stand up for their non-beliefs. Ms. Gaylor exhorted those in government to “get off (their) knees and get to work.”  Before the crowd dispersed, I took the opportunity to pass out some cards for Rochester’s Sunday Assembly, which is looking to start up in September.  As I departed, inspired, I couldn’t help but wonder – have I found my tribe?



1 comment: