ACLU request hasn't a prayer, Raleigh panel says

Lawsuit threatened over invocations

RALEIGH -- City Council members refused Tuesday to strip Jesus, Buddha, Guru Nanak or any other religious figures from the prayers that open its meetings, bracing for a legal fight with the American Civil Liberties Union.

An April 10 letter from the ACLU asked that Raleigh instruct all clergy to steer clear of specific religious references at council meetings.

But the council's Law and Public Safety Committee opted to risk a lawsuit, arguing that the prayers expose citizens to a variety of faiths and bring needed comfort in a hot-tempered political climate.

"You talk about civility," Councilman James West said. "That brings a little calmness and civility."

Prayers open each meeting of the full eight-member council, which still must vote on whether to change the policy. Raleigh's leaders defend the practice by noting that multiple faiths -- Coptic, Baptist, Jewish, Muslim -- attend.

Ralph Puccini, the city's assistant deputy clerk, selects a church from the Yellow Pages and invites a prayer leader from there to each meeting.

He said Tuesday that three Raleigh synagogues are represented this year and that he strives to invite clergy from different faiths.

The council considered changing the city's invitation policy with a letter that forbids mention of any particular creed or deity, including Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Jehovah, Kojiki, Sikhism, Jesus Christ, Taoism, Zoroastrianism or Wicca.

City Attorney Thomas McCormick said the problem lies not with which clergy appear before the council, but what they say at the lectern. About 90 percent of the prayers end with some reference to Jesus, he said, calling the situation "a lawsuit waiting to happen."

But Councilwoman Jessie Taliaferro said she felt confident about the city's chances in court, and her colleague and committee Chairman Philip Isley mimed a boxing stance after the committee's meeting.

No one from the ACLU attended the meeting Tuesday. Similar letters have been sent to Pittsboro, Clayton and Chatham County commissioners, whose members also rebuffed the ACLU.

In its letter, the group cites the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from making a law "respecting the establishment of religion."

The group has asked to review any letter to be sent to clergy asking for religion-neutral prayer, and it had set an April 24 deadline. Last week, ACLU executive director Jennifer Rudinger would not speculate on what steps the group might take next.

Three speakers at the committee meeting Tuesday urged council members not to give in.

Raleigh would find trouble if it imposed a program that forbade praying to Jesus or Allah, said Steve Noble of the conservative Christian group Called2Action. Inviting people to share their faiths publicly is different, Noble told the committee.

"The ACLU is hoping -- I would dare say they're praying -- that you don't do your homework," he said. "The ACLU likes to bully, and sometimes you've got to punch a bully in the nose."

The Rev. Renee Bethea, an activist in West Raleigh's Method neighborhood who also spoke at the committee meeting, said no one can give instructions for prayer.

"You cannot tell anybody what name to pray to," she said. "They are not praying to you. They may be praying for you."

The council has a tough job, she said, and could use a few prayers.

Isley agreed, and suggested the council consider adding another invocation -- at the end of each meeting, once the fur has flown.