The U.S. Supreme Court schedule includes a case about prayer at government meetings. The issues in this case are almost identical to the recent problems with bigotry we are having here in Clark County.
The town of Greece, N.Y., offers mostly Christian prayers to start their meetings, just as we’ve recently started doing in Clark County. All predictions are that the Supreme Court will side with the town over its non-Christian residents. The thinking goes something like this: Christians used to burn witches and hang Quakers, so nonbelievers should just be glad that the government prayers in Greece are only decorative rituals. Recently in New York magazine, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia demonstrated lack of respect for evidence by declaring Satan and Hell real. Attention Justice Scalia: not everything written down reflects reality. Consider Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
In March, Clark County Commissioners Tom Mielke and David Madore expressed their prejudice against nonbelievers, agnostics, skeptics and atheist residents by introducing the practice of taxpayer-produced “invocations.” The commissioners waste county staff time validating the worthiness of these prayer-givers. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide if Mielke and Madore will leave behind a legacy of legal bigotry or just plain bigotry.
Dave Norris
Battle Ground
