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.

Who Will Lead the School Board's Prayer at Tuesday's Meeting?

We have discussed the School Board's Invocation protocols many times in School Board meetings.  In light of the recent events at the City Council, I asked my counterpart, District 4 Board Member Patty Hightower, if she would be bringing this same individual this Tuesday for the pre-meeting prayer.  I strongly doubt that any of the other board members would bring him as their guest.  I certainly won't invite him, due to the way he has disrespected two of my previous guests that I have brought to bring the board a pre-meeting prayer.  Why would I ask Patty Hightower this?  Why wouldn't I...after all, she has invited this same person to bring the invocation before, and this person declined, he blew off her invitation. Thankfully.

But Hightower wouldn't answer the question, and of course she is under no obligation to do so.

But the way the exchange at the workshop went, who knows what will happen, who knows who she will bring?  I thought it peculiar and odd that she wouldn't answer the question.  Guess we will see Tuesday night......Hopefully it will be her doing her own version of an invocation, although according to the attorney this is a problem under the law.  Hopefully it will be a non-issue, just another Dr. Seuss reading, a story about geese and the reason they fly in a "V",  a children's poem, maybe even a moment of silence, or gee, maybe a Christian prayer?...hopefully, I really hope it doesn't turn out to be someone in a ridiculous costume like this.......

Out Came The Prayer Rug!

So as we were about to begin the invocation prior to a very heavy school board meeting,  one of the individuals in the front row took a prayer mat, set it right next to the podium, and began mumbling and chanting incomprehensible gibberish as our invited pastor was trying to give a really heartfelt Christian invocation.

The assembled guests in the front row were visibly impacted by this spectacle.

(A part of me was surprised he didn’t attempt to light an incense candle start beating a drum or tambourine.)

Talk about a distraction! 

I was trying to listen carefully to what the minister was saying, but my attention was diverted by this stunt being performed rudely at the same time as the invocation.  And the chanting was loud enough that I could hear  in up on the dais, I could just imagine the nuisance level the poor minister had to deal with as he tried to deliver his prayer while that chanting and grunting was going on in his ear.

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!