Roanoke Tea Party

As you may already know, the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is having a work session Tuesday to discuss (amongst other things) two important issues:

• Continued membership in ICLEI.
• Guidelines for the Opening Invocation for County Board Meetings

This article deconstructs the invocation information found in the agenda for the 8-28 meeting. See Part One for an analysis of ICLEI Vote. 

Invocation Issue:

The Invocation resolution is reproduced below in its entirety. These are the key sections:

D. “That invocation should generally invoke the guidance of God as a supreme being but should not contain any references that are particular to any individual religion, denomination or sect. Invocations may not include references to religious figures such as Jesus Christ or Muhammad, to images such as a crucifix, or to teachings from such sources as the Koran or Book of Mormon.

E. That the invocation may not include language indicating that the prayer

is given in the name of any religious figure.

Despite the various Supreme Court rulings cited below the first amendment is very clear.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

If Congress cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion, neither can the Roanoke Board of Supervisors as the result of the 10^th amendment to the Constitution. It is really that simple.

And make no mistake, this language is directed specifically to prohibit the free exercise of Christians. The Bible clearly directs that that all prayers must come through Jesus, most famously, in John 14-6 “…No one comes to the Father except through me.”

While you may or may not agree with that theologically, the language of this resolution specifically and purposefully denies the free exercise of the Christian Religion.

Therefore the Roanoke Tea Party strenuously opposes acceptance of this resolution. Here is the resolution.

ALTERNATIVES:

1. Continue current practice, exposing the County to the risks and expenses of litigation.

2. Eliminate all sectarian invocations or prayers opening Board meetings and eliminate the Invocation portion of the Agenda.

3. Adopt a policy directing individuals participating in the Invocation portion of the Agenda to give only nonsectarian governmental prayers and forbidding sectarian prayers.

4. Adopt a policy providing for a Moment of Silence.

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the Board favorably consider the adoption of a policy reflected in

AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE

COUNTY, VIRGINIA, HELD AT THE ROANOKE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

CENTER ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

 

RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A POLICY REGARDING OPENING

INVOCATIONS BEFORE MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF

SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY

 

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S.

783 (1983) upheld the Nebraska Legislature’s practice of opening each day of its

sessions with a prayer by a chaplain paid with taxpayer dollars, and specifically

concluded, “The opening of sessions of legislative and other deliberative public bodies with prayer is deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country. From colonial times through the founding of the Republic and ever since, the practice oflegislative prayer has coexisted with the principles of disestablishment and religious freedom;” and

 

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled that invocations at meetings of local governing bodies must be non-sectarian in order to be permissible under the Constitution; and

 

WHEREAS, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has also ruled that it is

unconstitutional during an invocation before a local legislative body to pray in the name of a particular religious figure; and WHEREAS, THE Fourth Circuit has also upheld in Simpson v. Board of Supervisors of Chesterfield County,404 F.3d 276, the policy and practice of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, which afforded religious leaders an opportunity to give a “non-sectarian” prayer at the start of board meetings; and,

 

WHEREAS, the Fourth Circuit in Joyner v. Forsyth County, 653 F.3d 341 (21011)

has also applauded the policy and practice of Chesterfield County since it aspired to non-sectarianism and requested that invocations refrain from using Christ’s name, or for that matter, any denominational appeal; and,

 

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County wishes to solemnize its

proceedings by allowing for an opening invocation before each of its meetings, and now desires to adopt this formal written policy to clarify and codify its invocation practices; and,

 

WHEREAS, this policy of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is based

upon these aforementioned judicially approved policies and practices.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke

County, as follows:

 

1. That said Board establishes the following policy regarding invocations at

meetings of the Board of Supervisors.

A. That invocations opening meetings of the Roanoke County Board of

Supervisors must be non-sectarian with elements of the American civil

religion, and must not be used to proselytize or advance any one faith

or belief or to disparage any other faith or belief.

 

B. That it is the intent of the Board to allow private citizens to solemnize

the proceedings of the Board of Supervisors. It is the policy of the

Board to allow for an invocation, which may include a prayer, a

reflective moment of silence, or a short solemnizing message, to be

offered before its meeting for the benefit of the Board.

 

C. That the purpose of the invocation is to invoke divine guidance for the

Board in the conduct of their public business and to solemnize the

proceedings. The invocation and its content do not represent the

views or religious beliefs of the County. The County believes in the

freedom of religion and welcomes into our community persons of any

and all religious faiths and persons who hold no religious beliefs.

 

D. That invocation should generally invoke the guidance of God as a

supreme being but should not contain any references that are

particular to any individual religion, denomination or sect. Invocations

may not include references to religious figures such as Jesus Christ or

Muhammad, to images such as a crucifix, or to teachings from such

sources as the Koran or Book of Mormon.

 

E. That the invocation may not include language indicating that the prayer

is given in the name of any religious figure.

 

F. That no member or employee of the County or any person in

attendance at the meeting shall be required to participate in any prayer

or invocation that is offered.

 

G. That no invocation speaker shall receive compensation for his or her

services.

 

H. That the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors shall create a database of

religious leaders and other individuals who wish to give invocations.

This database shall be created from published lists of churches,

synagogues, mosques, temples or other places of worship located in

the County of Roanoke, the Counties of Montgomery, Botetourt,

Bedford and Franklin, the Town of Vinton, and the Cities of Roanoke

and Salem, and it shall include known ordained religious leaders of

monotheistic religions with an established congregation in the named

jurisdictions. In addition the Clerk shall publish a notice in the

Roanoke Times inviting any interested person to give an invocation,

and also post such notice on the County’s website and on RVTV. In

November of each year the Clerk shall send a letter to all individuals

on this database inviting them to give an invocation at a Board

meeting. The letter will include a schedule of proposed meeting dates

for the following calendar year on which these individuals can request

an available date.

a. The Clerk will review all responses from these individuals and will

prepare a schedule of leaders who will provide an invocation at

each Board meeting. These individuals will be selected on a “first-

come first-serve basis”. The Clerk will call each individual at least

two days prior to the meeting to remind them that they are

scheduled to give an invocation.

b. If a scheduled person should cancel, or fail to appear, the Clerk will

attempt to schedule another person from the database, or the Clerk

will arrange for a staff person to provide the invocation.

I. That this Resolution shall be effective from and after the date of its

adoption.