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Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009

Stockton Record: Does policy have a prayer?

The Lodi City Council thinks it's solved its prayer-at-the-council- meeting problem. We're not so sure.

Lodi's previous, although ignored policy, called for a nonsecular prayer at the beginning of each of its twice-monthly council meetings. Then complaints arose because the prayers being offered were anything but nonsecular.

Jesus' name was invoked repeatedly, something that some non-Christians found disquieting and was disturbing to those who believe in a strict adherence to church-state separation.

Lodi is one of four California cities that received warning letters from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation and that triggered a review of the Lodi policy.

After a public hearing in which those supporting council prayer were in the overwhelming majority, the council settled on a plan to diversify the council prayers. The city would actively solicit prayers from all religions.

Rejected were ideas such as having a moment of silence, adherence to the previous nonsecular policy, or simply doing away with the council prayer altogether.

We would have found any one of those less intrusive on those citizens who either are not religious or have religious views different from those being expressed under the auspices of the city government.

Ironically, one of the first to take advantage of the city's religious diversity program was atheist David Diskin.

His was anything but a religious statement, but given the contest of a government-sponsored religious moment, was it any less likely to offend those of other religious beliefs than, say, a prayer offered by a Baptist minister or a Jewish rabbi?

The separation of church and state is one of the bulwarks of our nation's religious freedom and one of the most important methods of assuring the religious diversity we all hold so dear.