Inclusion, but only if you are like me.
tommy“Who is he going to pray to? It’s a free country. Whatever floats your boat.” - Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Alvarez, July 14 on learning an atheist was to deliver an upcoming invocation.
“I [don't] have to sit here and listen to an atheist tell me what I should and shouldn’t believe.” - Mary Alvarez July 29 after walking out before the invocation began.
“I think this is sending us in the wrong direction,” - Councilwoman Rose Ferlita
Listening to an atheist even one time could unleash a “snowball effect” on government, and he compared it to having unprotected sex. - The St. Pete Times paraphrasing Councilman Kevin White
“I certainly don’t agree with having an atheist come for the invocation. I think the invocation is a time for the council to start their day with an expression of faith.” - Mayor Pam Iorio
“City Hall belongs to everybody - everybody - regardless of what they believe in or what they don’t believe in, that is what our nation was built on. And that is what our soldiers overseas are fighting for.” ”We hear a lot of inappropriate stuff during the invocations, and we don’t respond, I hope the message got across loud and clear that city hall is for everyone.” - Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder, defending his decision to invite the atheist.
With very little effort, City Councilman John Dingfelder opened some people’s eyes to the prejudice and bigotry of some of our public officials. Dingfelder invited an atheist to speak the traditional invocation at yesterday’s city council meeting. Personally, I thought the invite was thoughtful as a small attempt to include all citizens. Mary Alvarez, Rose Ferlita, and Kevin White thought otherwise. These intolerant and hypocritical council members walked out of the meeting, and turned it into front page news, and lead stories on all the newscasts. What a ridiculous waste of time.
Blogwood is disgusted as well, and invites you to email Mr. Dingfelder with encouragement. One of his readers already has. It’s a damn shame to think that, for something so simple as inviting a fellow citizen the opportunity at an invocation, he needs support such as this. But after the reaction from Alvarez and the others, and considering the likely reaction from the Christians (Today’s news: Gay Christian fired from church job for an editorial supporting inclusion), he needs to know he did the right thing.
EDIT August 2: Corrected Councilman White’s first name to Kevin. Thanks, Jackie.
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