Atheist approved to give secular invocation at town meetings in Greece, NY

Atheist Community member Dan Courtney's request to give the invocation at a Greece, New York town meeting was approved this week.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that prayers, including secular invocations, are allowed in town meetings.

Courtney will speak on July 15.

The small town outside of Rochester was the center of the federal decision that found invocations in public meetings to be constitutional. The Court ruled that the prayers are often ceremonial, and not used to convert meeting attendees.

In response to the decision, atheist groups in Pennsylvania and Illinois have offered secular "prayers" in town meetings. One atheist activist said he hopes other nontheistic persons will do the same.

Courtney said that his speech will be about inclusion.

"For too long the invocations at these meetings were invitation only affairs, as if the public space was a private club," he wrote on Facebook. "The result was over a decade of solely Christian prayer."

Some municipalities in Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia are enacting measures to ensure that only Christian prayers are allowed in their public meetings.

Meanwhile, atheist organizations have posted invocations on their websites for visitors to use as a template. Secularist Ted Utchen provided an example of a nontheistic invocation during a Wheaton, Illinois city council meeting.

"Let us rise each morning, and strive each day, to do only that which brings happiness and joy to others, and avoid doing things that cause others hurt and pain," he said.

"And let us, above all, love one another, not to obtain rewards for ourselves now or hereafter or to avoid punishment, but rather always to bring each other contentment and peace. So be it."

News
Christians urged to speak out against 'conversion practices' bill
Christians urged to speak out against 'conversion practices' bill

The call comes amid warnings from The Christian Institute that the proposals could threaten parental guidance and pastoral ministry.

Churches challenged to make single Christians feel fully part of church life
Churches challenged to make single Christians feel fully part of church life

Churches need to move beyond assumptions that marriage and family are the normal markers of a fulfilled Christian life and create communities where single people are fully valued, speakers at the inaugural Single Friendly Church Network conference have said. 

Liechtenstein Prince blocks abortion law reform, advocates greater support for mothers
Liechtenstein Prince blocks abortion law reform, advocates greater support for mothers

Liechtenstein’s Hereditary Prince Alois has refused to approve legislation that would have eased the country’s abortion restrictions, arguing that greater efforts should instead be made to support pregnant women.