A nationally-recognized atheist
activist group is demanding that officials with a Florida city remove a
40-year-old Bible from city hall chambers.
The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom
From Religion Foundation (FFRF) recently sent a letter to officials in Pinellas
Park, Florida on behalf of local businessman Randy Heine, who states that the
Bible makes him feel uncomfortable when he attends city meetings.
"The Bible must go. It doesn't
belong in a government meeting," he told Fox13 Tampa Bay. "Every time
I speak, it makes me feel awkward."
According to reports, the Bible was
presented to the city in 1975 by the local Kiwanis club and has rested on a
desk in the chambers for nearly 40 years since.
Government Relations Administrator
Tim Caddell said that local residents have not expressed any grievances about
the Bible in the decades that have passed.
"We've not had complaints from
residents, from people who participated," he told Bay News9. "We have
complaints from groups who come in looking to find something wrong."
However, FFRF says that the Bible
serves as a government endorsement of Christianity, and asserts that such a
suggestion is unconstitutional.
"It's on display, and that
certainly is improper. It shows an endorsement of the Bible as a holy book over
other holy books," Co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told reporters.
"How would the people of Pinellas Park feel if it was a Quran?"
Therefore, the organization sent a
letter to city officials, contending that the Bible must be removed.
"Not only is the city council
sending a message of endorsement for Christianity over other religions and
nonreligion," it read, "but display of this King James Bible sends a
message of endorsement of one particular Christian sect over all others."
The letter also takes issues with
inserts that are included with city utility bills, which advertise for church
events, as well as prayers that precede city hall meetings.
FFRF has sent letters to Pinellas
Park in the past, which have heretofore been ignored. However, a review of the
correspondence is said to be underway this week.
Reaction to the matter has been
mixed.
"I love the Freedom From
Religion Foundation! … Help pull this country out of the insanity of
superstitious beliefs," one commenter wrote. "Magical thinking will
not improve the human condition."
"[T]here is nothing about
separation of Church and State in the Constitution. The 1st Amendment simply
says that the government (federal) will not declare any religion the religion
of [the] State.
"This was due to what England
did by making the Church of England the official religion of the country,"
another stated.
"Religious freedom means you
are free to worship and display your worship. You are not supposed to worship
behind closed doors!"
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