A group of atheists filed a lawsuit against Kansas City in Missouri seeking to stop it from providing funds for the Baptist Convention that will be held in September.
The lawsuit was filed on July 22 by New Jersey-based American Atheists, charging that the $65,000 fund that will be given by the city through the Neighborhood Tourism Development Fund to the Modest Miles Ministries Inc. for the Baptist Convention violates the First Amendment, which bans the establishment of religion, Reuters reported.
Named defendants in the case are the Kansas City Council, Mayor Sylvester James Jr. and City Manager Troy Schulte.
In April, the Kansas City Council passed an ordinance authorising the city to pay the amount to the ministry for the convention that will be held from September 5 to 9 in the city.
Giving the money, the lawsuit contends, "would impermissibly aid the national Baptist institution and advance its religious purpose in violation of Plaintiffs' right to be free from compelled support of religious institutions and activities under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."
Kansas City spokesman Chris Hernandez told Reuters that no contract has been signed for the release of the funds and that regular contract excludes use of any fund for religious purposes.
"The National Baptist Convention is inherently religious—and it is clear under Missouri law and the First Amendment that Missouri taxpayers should not be paying for it," said Amanda Knief, American Atheists national legal director.
The atheists said Modest Miles Ministries will use the fund for transportation to and from the convention, which is about 25 percent of the entire budget for the convention.
American Atheists said the fund for the Baptist Convention was the second largest grant the city gave this year.
In 1998, the city approved $100,000 for the convention followed by $142,000 in 2003 and $77,585 in 2010.
