Prayer Controversy in Waco, Part 2

Below is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to McLennan County Commissioner Lester Gibson about a recent decision to open meetings of the Commissioners Court with a prayer.  [Followers of the church-state landscape know that these nonsectarian prayer policy rarely have a nonsectarian effect.  More often than not, the overwhelming majority of prayers are evangelical Christian prayers.]

Gibson has spearheaded this effort, apparently acting against the advice of counsel.  After serving McLennan County for 20 years as Commissioner, Gibson only now sees the need for an opening prayer.  Coincidentally, this push for public prayer came within just a few weeks of an announcement that the proceedings of the Court would be broadcast online.  For more background info, see my original post titled Prayer Controversy in Jerusalem on the Brazos.

Dear Commissioner Gibson,

I read your recent comments (June 29, 2010) in the Waco Trib and thought I would respond.

First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Aaron Weaver and I am a graduate of the Church-State Studies program at Baylor University.  I’ve been a resident of McLennan County since 2003.

Let me add that I am not an atheist [readers: see here for context].  Yet, I too oppose the recent decision of the commissioners to open up meetings of the Court with a prayer.

I am a life-long Baptist and member of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco.  Prior to making McLennan County my home, I interned with civil rights hero Congressman John Lewis in Atlanta and with the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington D.C.  The Baptist Joint Committee is a religious liberty watchdog organization which receives significant support from Baptists in the Greater Waco area.  Congressman Chet Edwards is a great friend of the BJC having received the Barbara Jordan/Mark Hatfield Political Courage Award in 1999.  Suffice it to say, I am actively concerned about religious liberty issues, specifically church-state separation, because of the work of Congressman Lewis, Congressman Edwards and the Baptist Joint Committee.

I also operate a popular Baptist website (www.thebigdaddyweave.com) that deals with current issues of interest to Baptists in the United States.  I recently wrote about this emerging prayer controversy on my website.

http://www.thebigdaddyweave.com/2010/06/prayer-controversy-in-jerusalem-on-the-brazos.html

I invite you to read my thoughts and concerns.  Since you plan to move ahead with a prayer, I hope that you and the other commissioners will carefully craft a policy that is authentically nonsectarian.  Further, I hope that you and the other commissioners are committed to seeing that the implementation of this policy is indeed nonsectarian as well.

A review of prayer-related court decisions will reveal that a policy can be nonsectarian but can still be implemented in a manner which has a sectarian effect.  I recommend that you read closely the very recent decision of Joyner v. Forsyth County which struck down a North Carolina county’s practice of opening board meetings with prayers that were often sectarian in nature.  A federal judge ruled that the nonsectarian policy, as implemented, had “resulted in Government-sponsored prayers that advance a specific faith or belief and had the effect of affiliating the Government with that particular faith or belief.”

I have sincere doubts though that a policy can be implemented that is nonsectarian.  Your recent comments describing McLennan County as largely Christian, to me, suggests a misguided majoritarian mindset.  That most are generically “Christian” in McLennan County is beside the point.  A nonsectarian prayer policy requires an incredible amount of diversity.  An occasional prayer from a representative of a minority faith tradition will not pass constitutional muster as the Joyner v. Forsyth County decision demonstrates.  I also wonder whether local prayer-proponents are prepared to respectfully sit through an invocation given by someone not of the Christian tradition?  I’m not a betting man but it’s a safe bet to say that some of your constituents will not take kindly to a prayer addressed to a generic deity or to a specific deity from a non-Christian faith tradition.

Before drafting this policy, I suggest you first research the prayer policies of other city governments.  Courts have distinguished between public prayer at city government meetings and legislative prayer.  Modeling a policy after the policy of a legislative body is unwise.  The recent Joyner v. Forsyth ruling, quoting Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), provides insight on this point.

Meanwhile, I hope you and the other commissioners will realize the dangers of government meddling in religion.  And that’s precisely what happens when elected officials sit down to draft policies to regulate a religious practice.  Why now? Why not last year or five years ago?  Why not a moment-of-silence?  Elected officials should promote liberty not threaten it.  To quote Congressman Edwards, “The best way to ruin religion is to politicize it.”

Please do your part as an elected official to respect the consciences of residents of McLennan County from minority faith traditions (including atheists) as you proceed.  Please stand up against religious discrimination and religious coercion.

Sincerely,

Aaron Weaver