Traverse City Record-Eagle

Forums

Related Photos

November 13, 2009

Forum: Prayer in governmental meetings

By HARRY C. DORMAN JR.

The question of prayer in Grand Traverse County Board meetings has been raised based on an objection by an individual of minor faith, concerned by the commission's ongoing sectarian prayer invocation that clearly aligns with a predominant mainstream religion.

While it appears there's no negative intent on the board's part, its long-standing meeting invocation may be in violation of the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, which precludes the indentifying of a specific faith, or deity such as Buddha, Jesus or Allah, etc.

This scenario isn't a localized phenomena by any stretch as hundreds of governmental bodies throughout the land most likely commit the same missstep primarily through not knowing the legal guidelines pertaining to prayer in governmental meetings.

In the past, few have questioned such practices, but as patterns of faith in the U.S. shift and alternative/minority religions gain traction, more opposition to unequal representation of faiths in meetings -- or calls to eliminate prayer altogether -- are being voiced.

Once under scrutiny, a board or commission can find itself on a slippery slope where it's nearly impossible to satisfy all interests. Trying to fairly alternate area faiths becomes an administrative burden, plus federal courts have ruled that boards can't pick and choose which religions may give invocations.

Some predominant faiths may insist on taking precedence based on their belief that religious majority should rule, thereby creating conflict with other non-mainstream religions. Advocates of the separation of church and state or those following no religion may call for a total exclusion of prayer.

In the Grand Traverse County board's case, where prayer has become a long-standing practice, the very act of exclusion may draw criticism. To avoid the worse-case scenario of spending time in protracted debate, or taxpayer dollars in litigation, the board should act quickly and definitively in dealing appropriately with the matter of prayer in its meetings.

As a former elected township trustee and city commissioner, my experience has been that the business of the people can be carried out effectively without prayer in governmental meetings.

That said, as clergy I also believe public officials who follow faith should be free to elicit the support of The Divine as they know it in support of their work as public officials. However, such prayers should be done inwardly and privately.

The county board should choose between either eliminating prayer altogether from its meetings, or using a non-sectarian invocation. Such invocations can be as simple as asking all present to pause for a moment of silent prayer or meditation in support of the community's greater good.

The Grand Traverse County board must fulfill its responsibility to our community in this matter by examining the issue of prayer at its meetings in the light of legality, administrative considerations and religious diversity -- and report its decisions and actions to the public in a timely manner.

Our community has a responsibility to the county board as well -- that being fair-minded support of the board's efforts by not using public meetings as faith-based debate forums.

About the Author: Harry C. Dorman Jr. is a former East Bay Township trustee and Traverse City commissioner; he is an ordained Wiccan priest and minister, and co-founder of the Area Council On Religious Diversity. He can be reached at hdorman4270@charter.net.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.

Text Only