Dear editor,
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has demanded that the Okaloosa County School Board stop offering an invocation prior to their meetings.
Case law precedent has been established in favor of continuing to offer an invocation. I refer to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on City of Greece v. Galloway: the court ruled 5-4 in favor of the city of Greece.
"The town of Greece does not violate the First Amendment by opening its meetings with prayer that comports with our tradition and does not coerce participation by nonadherents," the court's opinion stated.
The court concluded that the town's practice of opening its town board meetings with a prayer offered by clergy members does not violate the Establishment Clause when the practice is consistent with the tradition long followed by Congress and state legislatures; the town does not discriminate against minority faiths in determining who may offer a prayer; and the prayer does not coerce participation with non-adherents.
Please join us; we will hold a prayer vigil at 5:30 pm. Monday, Aug. 24 at the Okaloosa County School District Office, 120 Lowery Place, Fort Walton Beach. We will meet inside the building.
Following the prayer vigil, we will attend the board meeting seeking to speak on the issue. The effort is to have the school board continue to offer an invocation.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet us.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Okaloosa school board's invocations don't violate First Amendment