By Michael Howell
At its last meeting on Wednesday, March 7, the Ravalli County Planning Board discussed the possibility of scheduling a prayer as part of the regularly scheduled items at the beginning of each meeting.
Planning Department Manager Terry Nelson, who had the item placed on the agenda, said, “The last meeting there was a prayer offered and I’ve gotten several comments concerning that. So I requested the county attorney’s office to look into it. They were not able to find any specific rules dealing with Planning Boards themselves and prayer. They ask, before they spend more time and research on it, to see if the board itself wants to take an action on whether to start with prayer or not. If you guys, as a board, decide that you do, then I just ask that you allow the County Attorney’s office to do further research before you decide to start implementing that.”
A few members of the public spoke first.
Pam Erickson said, “Being a woman of faith, I think it’s inappropriate and probably illegal to offer prayer at the beginning of any government entity.” She called it a waste of taxpayers’ money to have the county attorney investigate, “because they will find that it is illegal.”
Phyllis Bookbinder agreed. Also calling herself a “woman of faith and a Christian,” she said that faith concerns should be kept out of public policy.
“If you want to pray, pray before you come,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s fair to subject the public at large to any kind of particular prayer service in a government building.”
Board member Cheryl Tenold said, “I found it to be inappropriate. So I found, maybe, what the county attorney could not.” That was a court ruling which she said established that prayer is a religious practice and it is unconstitutional for a governing body to practice a religion.
Board member Fran Maki expressed agreement, saying she found it “inappropriate and unnecessary.”
Board member John Conlan questioned how the thing would work. What faith would be represented? Who would give the invocation or prayer? A visiting minister or a board member? He said he was a reader of the Constitution and the Bible and he believed the Bible in the Book of Matthew shows that prayer should be a private practice.
“I was raised a Roman Catholic,” said Conlan, “and a certain prayer might be appropriate for me. But what about others? I have concerns.”
“If you are going to have prayer,” said board member Mary Lee Bailey, “it should be silent prayer, because everybody’s needs are different.”
In public comment Judy Odee said that she thought the matter should go to the county attorney. She claimed other government bodies, certainly the Congress, allowed prayer. She said as an alternative the board could consider reciting the motto: “In God we trust.”
“It’s hanging on your wall,” she said.
Rick Nelson said that there was a trend to separate God from society.
“If we could just realize we are servants,” said Nelson. He said basically religious prayer was humbling and helps open you to being a servant before the people.
Board member Cheryl Tenold quickly asked “Are we going to have all religions or just Christian? If you are going to represent one religion, you have to represent all religions, even the ones you don’t agree with.”
Board member Bill Menager said, “It’s not appropriate to have officially sanctioned prayer.”
He said if a Muslim prayer was being offered, for instance, “that’s offensive to me and if I participate, I’m lying. I don’t want to be in the position of forcing anyone to go along with something they don’t want to. Pray before you get here, but not as an official Board,” said Menager.
Tenold made a motion to not have prayer as part of the Board’s proceedings. The motion was approved by a vote of five to three with Vito Ciliberti, Quinn Kirkland, and Russ Zacha dissenting.