Following a complaint lodged by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Mebane council members will start their meetings with a moment of silence instead of a prayer. This is according to Mebane Mayor Ed Hooks, who during the Dec. 6 regular session said the city would transition from prayers to a moment of silence so as to equally represent Christian town residents and those who might not adhere to Christianity. "We normally open up with an invocation," Hooks said before reading from a statement about the matter. "Because of Mebane’s conviction that the diversity of our strongly-held beliefs makes us greater, not weaker. And because of our commitment to show respect to all faiths, beliefs, and perspectives, Mebane’s city council will no longer open with an invocation." Participants of council meetings are encouraged to use the moment of silence to meditate as dictated by their respective faiths. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is a watchdog group that seeks to promote the separation of church and state one of the organization’s goals is to spotlight local governments that begin meetings with prayers, which has been a hot-button issue for a number of years. In 2013 Rowan County […]
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