Aleta Ledendecker
City Council
January 11, 2016
Good evening Council of Oak Ridge.
As I solemnize these proceedings, I want to acknowledge the service of the council members and share appreciation for their willingness to be a part of the governmental process. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who take on the burden of public office. Thank you for your service to the citizens of Oak Ridge.
Now, let us not bow our heads, but hold them high with eyes open so that we may keep them focused on the issues facing Oak Ridge in order that they may be considered with reason and compassion.
When this body comes together to govern, they do so with the consent of the citizens of Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is a very diverse community with many different views and opinions. I urge the members of the City Council to face the future and their civic duties with full recognition of their responsibilities to all the citizens of Oak Ridge. I urge you to maintain our trust that you will recognize and serve equally the growing diversity of your constituents with favoritism toward none. Realize that this growing diversity encompasses not only many religions, but a growing contingent of those who have no religious affiliation, the “nones.”
This community is made stronger by the diversity within it. Over 200 years ago our Constitution established a principle of inclusion as a shining example for the rest of the world, which has contributed to the astonishing success of our nation. When we forget or ignore it, we turn our backs on the wisdom of the founding fathers and tarnish their legacy, weakening our society in the process.
It is incumbent upon this council to make the best decisions for the community — the entire community. In this regard, I ask that you use reason, wisdom and empathy in your deliberations today, taking into account the implications your decisions will have now and into the future.
As this new year begins, remember that in honor of separation of church and state, no deities need to, nor should be invoked at the openings of your meetings. Doing so gives the appearance if not actual governmental preference to one group of citizens over others. The council is a civil body not a religious one, so should recognize that secular authority in government is not only sufficient, but preferable. James Madison, founding father and 4th President said it well:
“And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion & government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
Mayor and council members I appreciate the opportunity to offer an inspiring start to your meeting.
Now let this honored council proceed with its business, remembering also to honor all of its constituents, while upholding the principle of separation of church and state. Thank you.
Aleta Ledendecker
City Council
Lenoir City, Tenn.
March 23, 2015
Good evening, council of Lenoir City. As I solemnize these proceedings, I want to acknowledge the service of the council members and share appreciation for their willingness to be a part of the governmental process. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who take on the burden of service.
Now, let us not bow our heads, but hold them high with eyes open.
I urge the members of the City Council to face the future with full recognition of their responsibilities to all the citizens of Lenoir City. I urge you to maintain our trust that you will recognize and serve equally the growing diversity of your constituents with favoritism toward none.
Consider the words of Pericles, the great leader of Athens, the cradle of democracy, who said, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
Thank you.
Aleta Ledendecker, FFRF Life Member and Rationalists of East Tennessee secretary, writes: “The invocation was front-page news in the Knoxville News Sentinel and Loudon County News-Herald. My next scheduled invocation will be at another heavily religious city commission (in a county where they recently put plaques of ‘In God We Trust’ over the courthouse entrances). I’m gearing up for that encounter.”
Her husband Carl took issue with the council letting two pastors give prayers after Aleta’s secular invocation. “I was disappointed. I thought that they would come in and be respectful and not try to be pushy with people but obviously [they] were pushing back.”
