MONROE - The Freedom From Religion Foundation will get no response from the Monroe Common Council on stopping or changing its long-held practice of saying a prayer before its meetings.
The consensus of the council members Wednesday, after extended discussion, was to take no action and to make no response to the Madison-based organization on its objections to prayers before council meetings.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the city in January objecting to "the prayers that open Common Council meetings," prayers that it understood to be "pervasively Christian." The matter was brought to the FFRF's attention by "a concerned Monroe resident with necessary business before the council," according to the letter.
City Attorney Rex Ewald addressed the matter of prayer, noting the Establishment Clause - made applicable to state and local governments by the Fourteenth Amendment - and case law that has defined the extent of prayer at or before governmental meetings.
"Prayer per say is not illegal," Ewald said. What the council cannot do is "favor a particular religion" and "can't use terms... unique to a (particular) religion."
Defending its case that the council says its prayers "before the gavel goes down, is not going to work," Ewald said.
Furthermore, reference to God is not the problem, he added during the council's discussion. "Reference to God is fine under case law," he said.
As a "good summary" of the current status of law, Ewald pointed out that the prayer be non-denominational, not reject the tenets of other faiths in favor of just one, and not appear to suggest some faiths are right and others are wrong.
Calls from constituents in the past two weeks seem to have pulled council members to standing firm on maintaining its tradition.
Mayor Bill Ross said he also received many calls from city residents.
"They said it's a tradition of the city and the right thing to do," he said. "I agreed with them ... it's the appropriate thing to do."
Jan Lefevre, who has volunteered to read the prayers, expressed her opinion, noting the common use of the word "God" on government buildings and the nation's currency, as well as the historical religious basis on which the county was founded and the protection of religion found in the First Amendment.
"Our founding fathers believed in freedom of religion and not freedom from religion," she said.
Lefevre said she would be willing to take references to Jesus Christ out of the prayers, but not all of the council prayers invoke the name.
While the prayers were not objectionable to the council members, some expressed objection to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's letter.
"I think it's a bullying tactic," Michael Boyce said.
Boyce said the city could not afford to get into a court battle over the issue and suggested having a moment of silence instead.
"But my inclination is to stand up to the (FFRF)," he said.
Lefevre said a moment of silence would be "like giving in."
Tom Miller, Brooke Bauman and Reid Stangel also voiced their position to stand with their constituents who called in support of the prayers.
"I don't know if we can make a motion to give us freedom from Freedom From Religion Foundation," Stangel said.
The consensus of the council members Wednesday, after extended discussion, was to take no action and to make no response to the Madison-based organization on its objections to prayers before council meetings.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the city in January objecting to "the prayers that open Common Council meetings," prayers that it understood to be "pervasively Christian." The matter was brought to the FFRF's attention by "a concerned Monroe resident with necessary business before the council," according to the letter.
City Attorney Rex Ewald addressed the matter of prayer, noting the Establishment Clause - made applicable to state and local governments by the Fourteenth Amendment - and case law that has defined the extent of prayer at or before governmental meetings.
"Prayer per say is not illegal," Ewald said. What the council cannot do is "favor a particular religion" and "can't use terms... unique to a (particular) religion."
Defending its case that the council says its prayers "before the gavel goes down, is not going to work," Ewald said.
Furthermore, reference to God is not the problem, he added during the council's discussion. "Reference to God is fine under case law," he said.
As a "good summary" of the current status of law, Ewald pointed out that the prayer be non-denominational, not reject the tenets of other faiths in favor of just one, and not appear to suggest some faiths are right and others are wrong.
Calls from constituents in the past two weeks seem to have pulled council members to standing firm on maintaining its tradition.
Mayor Bill Ross said he also received many calls from city residents.
"They said it's a tradition of the city and the right thing to do," he said. "I agreed with them ... it's the appropriate thing to do."
Jan Lefevre, who has volunteered to read the prayers, expressed her opinion, noting the common use of the word "God" on government buildings and the nation's currency, as well as the historical religious basis on which the county was founded and the protection of religion found in the First Amendment.
"Our founding fathers believed in freedom of religion and not freedom from religion," she said.
Lefevre said she would be willing to take references to Jesus Christ out of the prayers, but not all of the council prayers invoke the name.
While the prayers were not objectionable to the council members, some expressed objection to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's letter.
"I think it's a bullying tactic," Michael Boyce said.
Boyce said the city could not afford to get into a court battle over the issue and suggested having a moment of silence instead.
"But my inclination is to stand up to the (FFRF)," he said.
Lefevre said a moment of silence would be "like giving in."
Tom Miller, Brooke Bauman and Reid Stangel also voiced their position to stand with their constituents who called in support of the prayers.
"I don't know if we can make a motion to give us freedom from Freedom From Religion Foundation," Stangel said.