Tomorrow's Invocation at the BCC Meeting......

Andre Ryland was invited to bring a secular prayer but he has proclaimed that he will also bring a Satanic
prayer at tomorrow night's meeting of the BCC

.....Yes, tomorrow's pre-meeting prayer was supposed to be a secular greeting by Andre Ryland of the Humanists.  I received an email yesterday explaining that the invocation that Mr. Ryland will give will  "include The Satanic Temple West Florida's invocation"

In today's PNJ, this invocation switcheroo is headline news.

Wouldn't it be nice if the politics could be taken out of what is meant to be a solemn moment of the public meeting? 

Wouldn't it be nice if those that believe in nothing would find a different means of garnering attention other than creating spectacles at public meetings? 

The purpose of the pre-meeting prayer is to encourage and bless the thoughtful deliberation by the assembled legislative body--it is for the board!  It is NOT  for attention grabbing by those who wish to self-promote.

This nation and this community is overwhelmingly Christian--nothing Ryland or anyone else says will change this.  This nation was founded on Christian principles by men who were overwhelmingly Christian--this is a known fact of reality.

With all of this said, I respect my peer commissioner's ability and right to invite whomever he wishes to bring the invocation at the meeting, just as he and the others respect my right to do the same. 

Obviously, I will always reserve the right to politely exit the room if I feel that, for personal reasons, the pre-meeting prayer as scheduled becomes divisive, disruptive, and/or disingenuous;

I won't indulge nor will I countenance a pre-meeting prayer that is hijacked for an alternative cause and that in no way resembles a blessing upon the board.

Invocations: Connection to the Schools is a Factor in Selection

So I’ve received several emails like this one, below, over the last two months.  I got this one yesterday…

"Dear Mr. Bergosh,

    Hello again,

    I am Celebrant XXXXX XXXXXX of XXXX XXXXXXXXX Rd. Pensacola XXXXX, and I am still interested in offering the Invocation for upcoming Escambia County School District meetings. 

    I, as a XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX, would be requesting you the board members make the best decisions you can with the education, knowledge and experience you have attained, without prejudice.  I ask this so that even we of minority philosophic thinking might still, with equality, be included in all governmental considerations for invocations per the Supreme Court of the United States.

    Would you consider me for an Invocation please?

Sincerely,

Cel XXXXX XXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX XX XXXX XXXXXXX

850-XXX-XXXX"

And as I think about the last eight years on the board, and all the folks that have come on my behalf and brought a pre-meeting prayer, I began reflecting on who it was that I invited and why. 

First of all, it is always someone that I know.  I’ve invited my pastor, the senior pastor at Hillcrest Baptist Church, a man that is an incredible inspiration to me.  He is amazing and his sermons are LEGENDARY!  He also has a connection to our schools, as Hillcrest is the home church for many

 district employees and Hillcrest steps up and supports many area sports teams and booster associations, and they also run intramural basketball and baseball leagues that benefit many public school students. 

And then I think of the district volunteers that I have brought, people that are invested in our schools, including one man I’ve brought twice who was the state of Florida school volunteer of the year for 2013!

And I’ve given the invocation myself, and I’ve asked selected staff members to bring the invocations as well. 

A behavior coach that deals with elementary school students with behavior issues brought the prayer for me once.

And my bible study leader has brought invocations on my behalf-he and his wife have students in our elementary schools.

Everyone I have ever brought on my behalf to pray at our meeting has been either a personal friend or someone intimately familiar with and active in our schools, or both.

And they all have a strong, verifiable connection with our schools.  This is important.

So when I get unsolicited “offers” requesting that I “please pick me” to bring an invocation, I am cautious. 

After all, we’ve had some really pushy, arrogant folks DEMAND that we bring them; to prove we’re not BIGOTS recently.

More troubling, I’ve seen online threats the essence of which is “Tell them you’re going to come bring a Christian prayer, then do a satanic prayer instead, LOL”

I don’t want someone to rob this board of their opportunity to legitimately pray on important issues before a meeting.  I don’t want this board to be subjected to somebody’s prank.  I won’t have that when it is my turn to bring a guest.  It is simply too important and I won’t allow it, because, given this is such an important component of our meeting, designed and included for the benefit of the legislative body as we consider very important issues for action, I’m just not inclined to bring in folks right of the street who I don’t know and who have ZERO interest or connection to our schools.

The attorney for the board has spoken, saying our practice is legal but also that we should consider those of other faiths as our guests.  I’ve taken that to heart and I will bring a non-Christian as a guest soon.

But I’m not going to bring anyone that demands I bring them, or that threatens the dignity and solemn nature of this portion of our meetings—just so such an individual can make a headline.  Or just to prove I’m not a bigot to someone that could care less about our district or the students we serve. 

And I’ll never support going to a moment of silence instead—the only way I accept that is if I’m voted down by my peers or a court forces this.  Neither of these scenarios is likely.

Context of the Quote

The PNJ story in today's edition captures a portion of the flavor of the conversation I had with David Suhor after our last school board meeting.  There is a bit of a history of back and forth between he and I, no question about that.

But with respect to the quote, I simply reacted to what he has stated in writing and to the comments he has made online, and that I perceive these comments and statements as both a demand and a threat. 

Essentially this individual, David Suhor,  has stated that unless we allow him to come as our individual, hand selected invited guests whenever and as soon as he wants , he will do a "Satanic Prayer" when he is eventually invited by one or more members of the board to come and bring greetings.   

I did tell him that I would never allow him to be my guest and represent me.  I told him that would never happen, ever.  The issue is not about the content of whatever message he wants to bring, it is about him trying to muscle his way into our meetings by making demands and threats.

I also told him I'm not sticking around to listen to his Satanic Prayer, ever.

Our attorney researched this issue and has stated that our current practice of allowing each board member, on a rotating basis, to bring an invited guest to the meeting for the opening prayer is legal, and does not need to change. 

Another board member has already stated she would invite him to come to our meeting to give the invocation, but he declined her invitation. 

So at this stage I can only assume, as I've thought all along, that this individual is out to make a headline, a splash in the media.

Not on my turn to select to guest he won't. 

Insight into One Person's Motivation for Demanding he Bring the Invocation.....

A Pensacola resident, pictured above with his back turned to the dais and the speaker at last month's school board meeting, has stated 

"the longer I am delayed, the more obscure I'll make my prayer when they finally allow it. Right now they are Pagan-level cooperation. More rejection and delays and I'll go to FSM. If they keep obstructing, I go Satanic."

Really?  He'll go Satanic?  It sounds like a demand wrapped inside a threat.

My idea posted on this blog for accommodating Christians and other religions at our monthly board meetings drew a huge online attack-directed at me.  It really spun up 12-15 non- Christians around the country as they responded to another blog post (utilizing pseudonyms) that was full of inaccuracies, out-of-context quotations, and other propaganda anddisinformation.

 The individual who created this situation is also the guy who came to our last board meeting and  turned his back on the board and speaker during the invocation.   What a swell guy!  But, I’m not sure what he’s all spun up over, I mean,  according to him-one of my counterparts on the school board already offered him the opportunity to bring an invocation—but he summarily declined.

Apparently, he wants to be accommodated on HIS terms only…

This individual was upset with me because I would not acquiesce to his DEMAND that I allow him to skip the line, putting him in the slot to speak ahead of 300,000 other Escambia County Residents, to give the August invocation as my invited guest.  He was rude about it, mis-characterizing a phone conversation we had, and emailing other board members his inaccurate and badly flawed view of our phone conversation.

At least one board member, apparently, has seen this guy's email and is under the naive, mistaken belief that his words are my words.  They're not, and I'll correct this board member at the next workshop.  I thought I made myself clear at the last workshop but perhaps this one board member did not hear what I said.

But I digress... 

Make no mistake:  This guy pictured and quoted above, David Suhor, wants to make a splash in the news, make a name for himself, and come to our meeting and do something outrageous-that's my opinion based upon his actions and statements lately.  His comments from an online blog post, attacking me, are telling of his intent and those of his cronies.  I’ll re-state this emphatically-I’m not participating in someone’s prank.  Check out what the real intention is, what many of us have suspected, based upon David’s (and others’) comments on this subject, below, from “The Friendly Atheist”:

David Suhor (posting under the pseudonym an apple biter) Stated:

“The one SB member who gave me the OK is backing off, saying she may have to give that date to a new SB member after the election. The others are not responding to multiple requests from Humanists and atheists seeking an equal opportunity to pray. They say they are waiting for legal advice and planning a workshop to figure it out. Meanwhile, I have no doubt they are lining up Xtians (and maybe one Jew) so they can say their spots are all full until forever. This is a common tactic: Unwanted prayer-givers are asking for inclusion. Instead of saying no, they SEEK OUT others of their own faith and ask them to give their next invocation/s. That way, they can say their date books are filled for YEARS. My reply: the longer I am delayed, the more obscure I'll make my prayer when they finally allow it. Right now they are Pagan-level cooperation. More rejection and delays and I'll go to FSM. If they keep obstructing, I go Satanic. As an Agnostic Pagan Pantheist, I claim the right to invoke any god/s I want”

RfromNY stated:

“I suggest someone pretend to be Xtian, get on the schedule, then get up there with a prayer rug and bend toward Mecca, or pray to Satan, or whatever. I don't care if it's lying, they've given us no choice.”

Paul stated:

“I wish I could go and give a prayer to Odin, performing all the hammer rituals and everything”

Andrea A stated:

“someone please dress up as a "Witch Doctor" and go to their next meeting”

To which rascal barqucat replied:

“It is Florida, so it probably wouldn't be too hard to find a "Witch Doctor" or at least a sympathetic Santeria priest or a southern conjure-woman root-doctor”

In addition to these outrageous posts, many of these allegedly very tolerant, progressive, and open-minded individuals have hurled obscenities at me from all directions, calling me such lovely names as

“A F*%&ing  A$& H#&le!”  and a  “Piece of S#$T!”  and others I won’t mention here...

 Yeah, these swell, ultra-polite  guys have only the best of intentions with their requests to deliver the invocation at the school board meetings. 

…..Not so far as I can tell from the way they conduct themselves!

A "Pagan, Agnostic, Pantheist" Demands that I Allow Him to Bring the Invocation on My Behalf!

......and my answer to him is    No.

his email:

>>> "XXXXXXXXXXXX"  08/08/14 1:36 PM >>>
Mr Bergosh,

Thank you so much for speaking to me today.

Since you said that you would not 'ever, ever' allow a non-Christian to
deliver an invocation, I would like to remind you of the law. Please
refer to Galloway v Greece NY (SCOTUS case, May 2014). In that instance, the Supreme Court said that local government bodies must allow
invocations from ANYONE offering to give one. It does not allow you to
deny me due to religious discrimination, nor to pass me on to another
board member who MIGHT not discriminate based on religion. If you are
unclear about this, I suggest you contact the school board's legal
counsel for clarification.

That said, I am requesting that you place me on the schedule for the
August 2014 meeting invocation (which you indicated is available).
Please contact me in writing with a reply - either an acceptance or a
legally-sound reason why I am rejected.

Best Regards,

XXXXXX  XXXXXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX

My response.............

XXXXXX,

The short answer to your request is……. No.

Additionally, I do not endorse your rendition of the essence of our conversation below; you have the context and my position all wrong.  I simply stated to you that I would not personally change my already selected choice for this month's invocation just because you want me too.  I'll never, ever change the invocation selection at the last minute, just because you, "XXXXX", or anyone else wants me too. 

Sorry, you waited too late to get on for this month-it has absolutely nothing at all to do with your religious views or the fact that I’m a Roman Catholic Christian-- don’t try to distort the reality of our conversation.

Here's the way the invocation rotation process works XXXXX-allow me to explain it for you in detail: 

Individual board members select the person who will deliver the invocation on a regular rotation that cycles every five months—it is each board members prerogative whom they select to represent them. In the month of August, it is my turn to select the person who will bring the invocation on my behalf, and I already have someone in mind to do this.  As I told you over the phone, you can contact the other board members to see if they would have you bring greetings on their behalf at some future meeting.

If that's not good enough, then you are welcome to fill out a speaker form at the meeting, and utilize your 3 minutes of speaking time at the podium to bring whatever religious invocation to the meeting that you'd like.  

In fact, you can come every month to multiple meetings and do that if you want to. 

And we’ll neither judge nor discriminate against you.

You can bring whatever greeting you'd like, XXXXX.  Wiccan, Mazdaki, BOTA, Cheondo, Asatru, Eckanakar, Jaini, Aladuran, Cao Dai, Falun Gong, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Atheist, Vulcan, Satanic, Klingon (you can even speak in Klingon if you want) whatever you want to do-it’s your three minutes.  I don’t judge people, thanks for the call, and

Have a great weekend!

Jeff Bergosh
Escambia County School Board
District 1 Board Representative
850-469-6147
www.jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com
jbergosh@escambia.k12.fl.us