The Atheist at Lake Worth City Hall

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It wasn't so much in what he said, but that the Supreme Court of the United States on a 5/4 decision, has allowed him to do so. As I told Mr. Smith, I thought it appropriate during a different venue such as public commentary but not a lead off prayer at our commission meeting. Most minority groups are pushy when it comes to their "rights."

 Here is Preston Smith's speech:

 Our collective atheism -- which is to say, loving empathy, scientific evidence, and critical thinking -- leads us to believe that we can create a better, more equal community without religious divisions. May we pray together? [pause]

 Mother Earth, we gather today in your redeeming and glorious presence, to invoke your eternal guidance in the Universe – the original Creator of all things. May the efforts of this council blend the righteousness of Allah with the all-knowing wisdom of Satan. May Zeus, the great God of Justice, grant us our strength tonight. Jesus might forgive us of our shortcomings while Buddha enlightens us through His Divine affection. We praise you Krishna, for the sanguine sacrifice that has freed us. After all, if Almighty Thor is with us, who can ever be against us? And finally, for the bounty of logic, reason, and science, we simply thank the atheists, agnostics, and non-religious, who now account for 1 in 5 Americans, and growing rapidly. In closing, let us, above all, love one another, not to obtain mythical rewards for ourselves now, hereafter, or based on superstitious threats of eternal damnation, but rather, embrace secular-based principles of morality – and do good for goodness' sake. And so we prayed….. So what?

 Mr. Smith, a pleasant young man, told me that there was "something else you may find interesting, we recently noticed that only the PB County Commissioners give their religious Invocation -- with strong Christian tones -- to the exclusion of everyone else. We are consulting with attorneys in order to assess what options may be available for Atheists, Satanists, Muslims, Buddhists, and all other "damned to hell" members of our County. If you permit one, you must permit all."

Note:  Preston Smith says that he is a public school teacher, Lake Worth resident (not in the city limits), and member of American Atheists (atheists.org). He was brought up Catholic in Dallas, Texas and he is 34 years old.

Mr. Smith first contacted City Hall on July 16, 2014 with a request to do the invocation. The City replied to him the very next day offering him four possible dates. He chose the one in December, the month closest to Christmas, a most holy day for Christians. I found it personally sad when he said that 20% of Americans are now non-religious.  I truly believe that this is one of the reasons why we have lost our way and a Ferguson is allowed to happen.

Four city commissioners left the room when Mr. Smith began to talk. Commissioner Christopher McVoy stayed to hear the dialogue as did the city manager and city attorney. Words don't hurt anyone and as repugnant the message, the law says that all sides need to be heard. I worry about this message being conveyed in the public school system.

Triolo, Maxwell, Amoroso and Szerdi reentered the chamber after Mr. Smith's invocation.