So a judge has ruled against Franklin’s tradition of starting Town Meeting with a prayer. The decision has reverberated across Vermont all the way to Brattleboro, which might be the last place you’d expect to open Town Meeting with a religious invocation.
Longtime Brattleboro Moderator Tim O’Connor points out that Brattleboro residents have been starting their annual town meeting with a prayer since 1753.
What’s more, O’Connor has no plans to change unless the Franklin ruling is upheld on appeal.
“Until there is a final ruling by the Supreme Court I think there is a place for it,” said O’Connor. “‘In God we trust.’ That’s what the Pledge of Allegiance says. Anyone who doesn’t want to participate doesn’t have to come in until after it has been said.”
This is Brattleboro? Noted haven for hippies, socialists, nudists, and strolling heifers? I guess this is Brattleboro. To be fair, it’s said that the Bratt prayers are “ecumenical,” but that doesn’t help the atheist, agnostic, or the person who simply prefers a separation between church and state.
According to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, about a dozen communities open Town Meeting with a prayer. And the judge’s ruling is not binding in other counties, so O’Connor is within the bounds of the law.
But still. Brattleboro?
Actually the Pledge of Allegence was modified in 1954 to include the words “under God”. In 1956 the motto “In God we Trust” was adopted by the Congress. Tim O’Connor should remember both of these events from his high school days at St Michaels in Brattleboro.
says “under God,” not “in God we trust,” but only since the anti-communist fervor of the 1950s, in which “godlessness” was conflated with “communism” by religious opportunists who wanted to capitalize on the red scare. The actual, original pledge does not include that clause.
It’s the tool of the worshipers of mammon (money) that says “in God we trust.” Interesting slip on O’Connor’s part. It appears he’s letting his wallet do the thinking.
Unfortunately, it could lead to the town’s taxpayer’s wallets paying the price … for the resulting legal fees. He seems to be oddly unaware of the fact that more than one lawsuit can occur at a time, nor does he seem aware that the fact that there’s a suit pending in one town does not prevent suits from being brought in another town. Let’s hope the town’s legal counsel has a word with him.
…everybody beat me to the Pledge thing.
I just skip that God part, myself. Since 7th grade. Still, they should watch it, lest we challenge THAT requirement, too.
Jeebus, doesn’t anybody study history, or the Fed and VT constitutions?
Mr. O’Connor, and all politicians, should recognize the fact that the fastest growing religious demographic in this country is “no particular religion,” at about 16%.
At some point we’ll be enough of a power block to actually enforce the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment.
Moderator is an elective office. I know people tend to hold the position for a long time, but especially if the current moderator is determined to cost the town thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees maybe a challenger who is willing to actually support the constitution could be found.