Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Post editorial today on the invocation issue...

The Palm Beach Post has weighed in on the invocation drama here in Lake Worth. Frankly I am surprised it's taken so long. Here are two excerpts:
At the time [allowing a Christian Nativity display in the Capitol], an official [unidentified] with the American Civil Liberties Union warned that state officials may not “fully appreciate the door they’ve opened up.” Allowing a relatively innocuous religious display, he said, could lead to other displays intended for shock value. After all, allowing certain religious displays while rejecting others can violate the constitutional requirement that speech regulations be “content-neutral.”
Not long afterward, displays went up in the Capitol celebrating the winter solstice, the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” and the Seinfeldian pseudo-holiday “Festivus.” This year, the distinguished list was joined by a diorama of a fallen angel being cast into hell — courtesy of a group called the Satanic Temple.
[and...]
City Manager Michael Bornstein told The Post this month that he just wants to “go to a moment of silence to stop all this stupidity and madness.”

For most cities, that’s the right call. There’s little need, and less place, for religious prayer in government meetings. To start off public meetings in a multicultural society, sometimes silence is golden.