City Council Resolves To Keep Prayer

The Anderson Independent-Mail yesterday reported that the City Council of Anderson, South Carolina wants to preserve its tradition of rotating among members of Council the responsibility for opening each Council meeting with a prayer, or choosing not to have a prayer, despite ACLU objections. Anderson Mayor Richard Shirley opened Monday night’s City Council meeting according to his custom of reading from a collection of invocations of a former U.S. Senate chaplain. The prayer ended with the words: "Through Jesus Christ Our Lord." Shirley insists (text of remarks) that his right to pray to Jesus insures the rights of any member of Council to pray according to his or her religious beliefs as well. He says he will resign if he is not permitted to continue to pray to Jesus. Council passed a resolution unanimously adopting a Policy that continues its long-standing practice of opening sessions with prayer. The resolution said: "The City Council expressly states that this moment of prayer should not be viewed as an attempt to establish a religion. Attendance during the prayer by a council member or the general public is not a requirement to participate in the City Council meeting."