Atheist gives invocation at Cobb meeting

By MARCUS K. GARNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

9:11 a.m. Thursday, July 30, 2009

No need to bow your heads, folks.

That’s what Smyrna atheist Edward Buckner told people before leading the invocation Tuesday night at the Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting.

“It’s actually a protest against invocations,” the president of American Atheists said Wednesday night. “My goal is to get them to stop doing invocations.”

County board of commissioners chairman Sam Olens, reached by phone Wednesday night, said he was offended by Buckner’s actions.

“Did I find his comments repugnant and insulting? Yes,” Olens said. “He abused the process by giving an opinion … rather than providing inspiration.”

What Buckner did was thumb his nose at what he believed was an unconstitutional cross-section of religion and government, he admitted in his words Tuesday night.

Rather than any form of deity, he invoked “the 700,000 people who live in this county — especially the majority (yes, over half) of those 700,000 who are not members of any church, mosque, temple, or other religious organization,” he said.

“I speak as well for those political leaders who despair that success in politics cannot be achieved without hypocritical piety from politicians and who would prefer to run for office and to govern based on competence and political philosophy rather than on beliefs, real or pretended, in any supernatural beings.”

Olens, a candidate for state Attorney General, said he was surprised by Buckner’s tirade.

“I expected that it would be in the context of inspiration,” Olens said.

Buckner said he was disappointed that Olens made a “disclaimer” before he spoke, saying that federal law requires the county to let anyone who signs up make an invocation.

“This county is pro-religion and they act like anybody who isn’t is a second class citizen,” Buckner said.

Buckner is no stranger to protesting religion in government.

In 2005, he was one of seven Cobb residents who with the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit to halt the practice of invocations before board of commissioners’ and planning commission’s meetings.

But last year, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in a 2-1 ruling with a lawsuit’s contention that the Constitution permits only nonsectarian prayers.

And earlier this month, Buckner spoke out during public comment against the commissioners’ approval of a plan by the county’s development authority to issue up to $14 million in bonds to lend to North Cobb Christian School for renovations.

Olens said the county received an E-mail from Buckner requesting to do an invocation, and allowed it because of First Amendment laws.

“Had I stopped him before he started, he then would’ve had a federal action against the county,” Olens said. “That’s the price you pay for being American.”

Buckner had this to say for those he may have offended.

“Join me in asking Cobb County to stop having invocations,” he said.

Full video of the event here with a backup link here. Thank you to the Cobb County Commission for being respectful and polite during the proceedings. It’s just too bad that Olens is so chagrined by his fellow citizens exercising their rights that he had to go on record after the fact as being offended.  The price you pay…?  What an asshole…

Loved the smattering of applause at the end.  I only wish I knew what Ed said in place of “under God” during the pledge…  it obviously was not “under God”.  Cheers, Ed.

What caught my attention more than the viseral imagery and over-the-top Persians was the story and the characters.  King Leonidas, his wife Queen Gorgo, and Dilios are fantastic characters.  Xerxes the outlandish megalomaniac scoffs at the idea of a few hundred Spartans stopping his advance. 

And so the Spartans and the Persians meet at Thermopylae.  I won’t drag you through the whole history, but except for the dramatic visualizations, the movie brilliantly tells the tale of several incredible days of battle for freedom.  See Wikipedia for an impressive retelling of the Battle of Themopylae.

My point in bringing all this up is the quote by Dilios at the end of the film.  It is now a year later and the Greeks are several thousand troops strong and resisting another invasion by the Persians.  In the final moments of the movie, he says:

This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine…

What a shame that things didn’t quite work out that way… but imagine… what if we could rid the world of superstition and myth?  Truly, that would be the dawning of a future that I look forward to and desperately want to be a part of.

• ScienceBlog on George Carlin and his most recent act.
• One of George’s previous efforts (well done).
• OK, and just for posterity (and because it’s so damn good). 
• Careful about giving away your rights.
• Or this is where we may end up.
• Some really, really good Easter statistics.
• Did Jesus Exist?  Does it matter?

Really late here – I gotta get some sleep. 

Take care… oh, and question everything!

A few days ago, Peggy Noonan summed up why she thought Hillary has been able to muster a comeback of sorts, but also paints a vivid picture of what it would mean for her to succeed: 

She kept her own spirits up to the point of denial and worked it, hard, every day. She is hardy, resilient, tough. She is a train on a track, an Iron Horse. But we must not become carried away with generosity. The very qualities that impress us are the qualities that will make her a painful president. She does not care what you think, she will have what she wants, she will not do the feints, pivots and backoffs that presidents must. She is neither nimble nor agile, and she knows best. She will wear a great nation down.

Very well said, Peggy.