"Serving God in Hudsonville"
Respond to Grand Rapids Editorial
"Nobody is being asked to subscribe to a certain set of beliefs or take part in a ritual not to their liking."
February 25, 2008
If you have a chance, please respond to an editorial, "Serving God in Hudsonville," appearing in the Grand Rapids Press (Feb 25, 2008), urging the mayor of Hudsonville not to remove a reference that the city "strives to serve God" from a city mission statement. On behalf of local complainants, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has asked the city to remove this unconstitutional reference. Cities should strive to serve their citizens, not imaginary divine beings.
Ironically, the editorial maintains: "Nobody is being asked to subscribe to a certain set of beliefs or take part in a ritual not to their liking." "Nobody" is apparently a euphemism for Hudsonville's nonbelieving population, who are indeed being turned into "nobodies"-- second-class citizens--via this inappropriate and unnecessary espousal of governmental belief.
Please send a short, succinct e-mail dissenting from this editorial (signing name, full address and phone number if you want this to be considered for publication). Thank you! As always, we enjoy seeing blind copies of your e-mails and ask that you write as an individual.
To respond:
Send an email to Ed Golder, Editorial Page Editor at Egolder@grpress.com.
Read the Grand Rapids Press editorial (text also follows)
Serving God in Hudsonville
The Grand Rapids Press
Monday, February 25, 2008
The humble reference to serving God in the City of Hudsonville's mission statement hardly poses a threat to religious freedom or the Constitution. The sentence simply reflects deeply held community values. Yet a small Wisconsin-based group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation has argued that the mission statement should be changed because it compromises religious neutrality and religious liberty. Leaders in Hudsonville, including Mayor Don VanDoeselaar, should resist those calls.
People opposed to any mention of the almighty in civic life can find plenty of reason to take offense -- from school children pledging their allegiance to a nation "under God" to the wealth of references to the divine on public buildings and monuments in the nation's capital.
The sheer ubiquity of those references is proof that God has not been banished from the public sphere, though he has been marginalized, sometimes too much so.
Courts have set reasonable limits on religious expression in public life -- from classrooms to council chambers -- mostly to guard against government-sponsored coercion or a preference for one particular creed over any other. Those safeguards are appropriate, particularly to protect believers in minority groups, or those with no religious belief, against harassment by an overbearing or self-righteous majority.
The Hudsonville mission statement reads, "The city commission and administration of the city of Hudsonville strive to serve God through the strengthening of family and community life and are committed to excellence in providing quality municipal services."
That's it. Nobody is being asked to subscribe to a certain set of beliefs or take part in a ritual not to their liking. Nobody is being forced to pray to a foreign deity, or to any deity at all, for that matter. Nobody's being asked to agree. In fact, in a democracy, dissent is actively encouraged. In defining their mission, city leaders sought to make a statement about value and purpose that reflects their community.
Hudsonville residents, like those everywhere, are rightly concerned about whether their municipal leaders serve efficiently and effectively -- measured by streets paved, parks maintained, protection from crime and disaster.
If in performing those tasks, city leaders view themselves as serving God, that doesn't compromise their effectiveness. However, the notion of acknowledging deference to a higher power clearly means a great deal to elected and appointed officials in Hudsonville, and to many citizens there.
That's the point. Feel free to disagree.