Wednesday, April 13, 2011

WI County Yields Prayer to Atheist Threat

After the Wisconsin Eau Claire County Board received a legal threat from the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Board unanimously agreed to trash the invocation/prayer.

-- From "Letter prompts Eau Claire County committee's vote to remove invocation from meetings" By Christena T. O'Brien, The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, 4/13/11

In a Feb. 25 letter to County Board Chairman Gregg Moore, Annie Laurie Gaylor, foundation co-president, urged the board "to concentrate on county matters," rather than prayers.

During Tuesday's committee meeting, Moore said he is uncomfortable with invocations offered by fellow supervisors that resemble prayers.

Supervisor Colleen Bates proposed the committee recommend substituting reading the county's mission statement instead of giving an invocation, saying she believed doing that would help bring the board together at the start of each meeting to do the county's business.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.