Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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| Rusty Goff held up the Holy Bible during his comments to the council. |
“Thank God they got it right,” said former Mayor Nat Swanson. “The heck we can’t pray. It’s a matter of freedom. What did our forefathers die for?”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote the Clemmons board last fall to caution it against sectarian prayers.
The Rev. Steven Corts of Center Grove Baptist Church asked the board not to cower in the face of intimidating letters. “The ACLU will be hoping you will be afraid,” he said. “If we cannot hear each other’s prayers in Clemmons, there will be other things we cannot do.”
He called the trend toward moments of silence an “awful muzzling.”
About 200 people overflowed the village hall — as many standing and crowded around the old Hattie Butner stagecoach outside the chambers as were seated inside. Cheers and applause erupted when the board voted.
The board’s decision calls for it to develop a policy that will comply with court rulings and maintain the prayer.
Corts said that public prayers meet the constitutional test if they don’t favor one religion over another, if they don’t proselytize and if they don’t disparage another faith.
He said the moment of silence was “simply unacceptable” and the same as no prayer. “Both have the net effect of silencing speech simply because it is religious.”
Since its beginning, the Clemmons council has opened with a prayer by a village preacher, chosen from a pool of area ministers. Corts said the duty should be open to any faith... Subscribe to the Clemmons Courier, P.O. Box 765, Clemmons, NC 27012.