Springs City Council: We'll keep praying
Written by Pam Zubeck and Perry Swanson -- (Colorado Springs Gazette )
July 21, 2008

Local governing bodies will continue praying before meetings, regardless of how the Grand Junction City Council alters its policy after an atheist group challenged the practice.

The Western Colorado Atheists sought to halt the Grand Junction council's prayers before meetings, arguing they're almost exclusively Christian, suggesting the city endorses a certain religion.

That, the atheists argued, would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported.

Last week, Grand Junction officials admitted the city might be breaking the law by not having a formal process for choosing who offers prayers, which has led to mostly Christian pastors giving invocations that often reference Jesus Christ.

The Grand Junction council said that from now on, it will invite a broad range of speakers.

Colorado Springs City Attorney Pat Kelly said the Springs City Council is in the clear, citing a Supreme Court decision in the 1980s that upheld prayers by legislative bodies before meetings.

The council prays before formal meetings at which votes are taken but doesn't pray before informal meetings that follow a workshop format.

"As long as you're not denigrating some faith," she said. "You're OK."

Kelly also said the council has tried to avoid having a specific religion dominate.

"They deliberately go out and look for a variety of faiths," she said, "because this community is comprised of a variety of faiths."

Besides Christian pastors, rabbis, priests and those who provide chants rather than traditional prayers have given the invocation.

But Becky Hale, a founding member of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs and an American Humanist Association board member, begs to differ.

"No, it's not all inclusive," she said, noting her organization has never been invited to participate and has been rejected from city sponsored events such as Springspree, "because we were too controversial."

She said if given the chance to speak, she wouldn't call it a prayer, but rather "a recognition of responsibility, or call for people to be their best human selves."

"It seems like to me it (prayer) hasn't done any legislative body in the United States any good," she said. "They're not making better decisions, being more ethical. They're being as hypocritical with or without it."

El Paso County commissioners have a prayer about once a month to open their meetings. It started in 2006, when Commissioner Sallie Clark chaired the board. Then-Commissioner Douglas Bruce blasted the idea, saying Jesus had instructed his followers to pray in private.

"I just felt it's kind of important to ask for some guidance and to think about the decisions that you make as you govern," Clark said.

Prayers would happen more often at commission meetings if county officials could line up people to do the honors. A county worker typically identifies clergy by searching the phone book and leaving messages at several places of worship, Clark said. Whoever calls back gets on the schedule.

"We welcome all faiths," Clark said.

Both houses of the Colorado General Assembly open daily sessions with interdenominational prayers.