Comment Up
Note: In God We Trust
is even on our money
"I'm not looking for controversy...but why is it that we've gone for 200 plus years with this process? It's worked very well for us and then we find one individual or two individuals in the community or a nation that want to make an issue out of it.
You know, earlier today we talked about democracy, ok...well that's not very democratic when you start having nickles holding up a dime. For 200 plus years, we have had this system in place. Now all of a sudden we're going to change the system over a handful of people that they decide they want to come in and mock everyone's else's religion. That's not what I consider respectful of other people's belief systems.
So, we all should shut down our belief systems or not express, or embrace, or celebrate or acknowledge or whatever adjective you want to use because one or two or three or a handful of people in the community are offended...are you kidding me? You're kidding me, right?"
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Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell
I agree with Scott Maxwell. Right now the country is being lead by politically correct minorities of people who are changing our value system. That is their mission--to end the importance of Christianity, God, prayer or any religion. I agree with Maxwell that we "are not moving forward" when Commissioner Maier suggested that we were. They have had the right president of the United States in place to empower them. A lot has changed over the course of seven years.
When Maxwell used the expression of nickles holding up a dime, he was saying that basically the notion that something relatively small in value can thwart the larger benefits that would accrue from something much bigger. There is a lot of truth to that statement.
To say this again, eighty-three percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Most of the rest, 13 percent, have no religion. That leaves just 4 percent as adherents of all non-Christian religions combined — Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and a smattering of individual mentions.
Even our city attorney told us that all faiths have been represented in Lake Worth during our invocations: Christians, Jews, Moment of Silence, Muslims, Atheists, Quakers,
Baha'i Faith. We can't control the message but we can tell them not to criticize others. He told us that our procedure has not been illegal and quoted a Supreme Court case that I have already discussed on this blog.
The City should have told the truth as to what provoked this to be placed on the agenda by the City Attorney--it was the request by Atheist/Satanist Chaz Stevens who has threatened a lawsuit. The last thing this city wants is another lawsuit and they don't want him appearing at City Hall.
They are controlling the message. Even in the end, Scott Maxwell voted to take the easy way out. They changed the process with their 4/1 vote [McVoy dissenting], catering to the minority of people who believe in nothing but themselves.
If they are afraid of a lawsuit, they surely could open themselves up for a discrimination lawsuit down the road when you have 5 commissioners controlling the message and deciding what, if any or who should give the invocation at City Hall.
Here in Lake Worth, non-believers are very much in the minority. It is such a small percentage that it amounts to beans but this commission rolled over to them on the pretense of "moving forward" and totally ignoring the First Amendment.
I am not afraid of anyone's message whether they be Jewish, Atheist, Muslim, etc. I am very comfortable in my own skin, in my own beliefs, that whatever they say is irrelevant to my life but one thing is certain, they should have the right to give a two minute invocation. What is there to fear?
