FFRF Letter Stops City Council Prayer Proposal in Roswell, Georgia

On behalf of members in Roswell, Ga., Foundation Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert sent a letter to the City Council, strenuously opposing a proposal to introduce prayers at official city meetings. One council member had said, "I hope that through starting our meetings with an invocation, perhaps it could set the overall tone to one of reconciliation and better relations."  In her Feb. 18 letter, Markert asked Roswell's mayor and City Council to revere our godless and secular Constitution by "observing a strict separation of church and state [that] offends nobody, and honors the First Amendment."  On March 3, the Roswell Neighbor reported that the council had rejected the prayer proposal. Some council members reported that residents largely objected to government prayer, and of the council's six members, five ultimately voiced their reservations about the proposal. One council member reported that, "Probably 80 percent of the people are saying to me no, don't do it. I would have a difficult time supporting this because I'm not seeing the support from our community to do it."