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08 October, 2015 Update – 2023.01.26 If your locality has invocations at any political meetings it would be a good idea for you to give regular secular invocations if for no other reason than to remind those politicians that it is not just their religion that they are required to support in their political actions.For those of you unfamiliar with what an invocation is, it is supposed to be the solemnization of the political process that is about to occur. The legal reasoning behind allowing prayers at legislative meetings is based on the fact that our initial Congress began each meeting with a prayer. And since Congress is the legislative branch the courts have reasoned that when the legislative branch approved the First Amendment they did so knowing full well that they were beginning their meetings with a prayer to enforce the idea that what they were about to do was not frivolous but rather was important. It also fits with the second part of the Establishment Clause, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof “. Since the public is not required and as a matter of fact is often excluded from these meetings, it is essentially a private meeting and as such they are not violating the clause by performing a “private” prayer.This condition is quite different from most if not all executive and judicial meetings which are almost exclusively open to the public and often more than invite they actually demand the appropriate citizenry be there. The courts have then extended this right of “private” prayer down through all legislative meetings. Its extension into city and county government meetings has introduced one problem, and that is the fact that most local legislative style meetings, city councils, county board meetings, etc. like judicial and executive meetings often more than invite they actually demand the appropriate citizenry be there. To overcome this problem the courts have ruled that if invocations are given they must be done such that it is the citizens doing the invocation without interference, degradation or promotion of any sort from the governmental body and its members. It is also understood that since the government has an obligation to equality to all religions and all non-religions the invocations cannot be proselytizing or demeaning towards other sects. The invocations function is to let the politicians know that they are not doing something frivolous, it is not there to promote the one giving the invocation. As such invocations should not demote any sect or attempt to convert others but rather should bring the community together in an effort to perform a political function with the greatest inclusivity of all involved. If you should decide to take up this obligation (see rules 9 & 12) you must face the fact that in small towns in republican controlled states it may not be easy to get them to allow you to do it. If they don’t then I recommend contacting the office at contact@hypatiansociety.org, or calling at 307-622-3790. We will assist you in getting it set up so you can give an invocation. You can also contact the FFRF at http://ffrf.org/about/contact You can also expect that one or several members will walk out when you give your invocation. That is still under consideration for a law suit(s) and undefined at this time. If you do give an invocation we would ask that you email a story about your experience as well as a copy of your invocation or at least a copy of your invocation to contact@hypatiansociety.org. There are several websites which list secular invocations that can be used if you are not a writer by nature, or as an overview to show you what others have done. Some of these include: http://humanist-society.org/invocations/ and http://cflfreethought.org/invocaations/ This being the guide lines given by the various U.S. Courts, I have taken this obligation up and delivered the following invocations at the Gillette WY City Council meetings: 2014.11.05 Let us open our eyes and minds to the fact that we need to remind those politicians that are going to make decisions tonight that it is all the varied peoples of Gillette they need to consider when making those decisions. Let us also remind them that their primary duty is to maintain the freedoms of the people and are not here to run the government as a for profit company but rather to run a limited government efficiently. It will also be helpful to remind them that we are not a democracy but rather a constitutional republic where they are inside of a bubble that limits the government to certain tasks and those tasks must be carried out within the limits of the laws, not the wishes of the majorities or the feelings of the members. Let us also acknowledge that this form of government does not come free. There are those that have given their all for those freedoms including Robert Rogers, Wally Garst, and Craig Merrington all of whom died alone in combat in a foreign land known as Vietnam. Before beginning this meeting let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. May we have a moment of remembrance please: Delay 15 seconds With our freedoms and the sacrifice of those people in mind, let this meeting begin. 2015.05.06 I’m sure you all remember the case of Matthew Shepard, an incident not unlike the 1889 lynching of Ellen Watson (who you may erroneously know as Cattle Kate) and Jim Averill. The hard earned lesson from that lynching that was applied to he Shepard case is that there should be no“special” people or groups of people. Instead, we need to realize that everyone is equal under the law, and if anyone wrongs another the state will not be burdened with concentrating on justice for the “special” people but instead can and will provide equal justice and liberty for every one. It is hard sometimes to explain to people that this is the proper way for a government to act. Fortunately, over the many years since that lynching our legislators have held to the principle of equality, not specialty. So in your government duties history has shown us that continuing this practice of equality is a good thing. Please keep that in mind during your decision making. Would those who wish to honor our veterans please rise? Let us acknowledge that equality does not come free. There are those that have given their all for those freedoms including Manual Davila who died in Kuwait, Ryan Zorn who died in Iraq, and Jacob Ross who died in Afghanistan. Before beginning this meeting let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. May we have a moment of remembrance please. With our freedoms and the sacrifice of those people in mind, let this meeting begin. 2016.02.02 The birth of freedom and equality was first recorded some 4,100 years ago when Ur-Nammu created his law code. In his Preamble he declared he was going to “establish equity in the land; banish malediction, violence and strife, . . .”. through standardizing weights and measures, and having a uniform law code throughout the kingdom based on equality as expressed in the idea that “The orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina.” That foundation waxed and waned with different cultures but made little if any lasting progress for 3,900 years until it finally took a solid hold in this country in 1776. And like Ur-Nammu our founding fathers did not get everything right; both allowed slavery, treated women as less than men, and had some punishments that were a bit extreme. But at least the foundation was laid. And in the 240 years since the anchoring of the idea of freedom and equality into our nation we have been advancing the freedoms of all humans as we should should have been doing for those 3,900 years. As a government and a people we should remember that humans have today spent 4,100 years progressing to the freedoms we know today and now is not the time to fall back into that oppressive state of humanity through our own arrogance, passivity or the misdeeds of others. So when you make your decisions, both large and small, please keep in mind that this struggle for equality has been long and fraught with much hardship and need not be fought again. I would now like to honor some of our veterans. The Wyoming SubVets honors the men of the USS Barbel so let us acknowledge that there are those that have given their all for these hard-won freedoms including the 81 men of the USS Barbel, SS-316 lost sometime between February 3 and February 7, 1945 somewhere in the western approaches to Balabac island or the southern entrance to the Palawan Passage in the southern Pacific. Before beginning this meeting let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. May we have a moment of remembrance please Delay 15 sec. Thank the Council 2016.11.15 Money woes come and go, but the human condition continues along as much today as it always has. Somehow money woes seem to affect people the same no matter where you go or when you went. After all, we didn’t develop writing to pass along great social truths, it was incised counting tokens developed 9,000 years ago so the accountants of the day could keep track of property owned by whom that started us down the recording things path, and of course things of value were what was recorded, not great social accomplishments. From there writing evolved into pictographs in Uruk in Mesopotamia and finally into cuneiform writing which was developed primarily to track grain production used to produce beer and also record the amount of beer each citizen got. That’s right – Beer was THE most important reason to develop full fledged writing. And just as the variations in crop production produced woes for the beer drinkers and government of Mesopotamia, variations of resource needs creates woes for us today. But thinking about it, in the case of the Mesopotamians’, when there were hard times the people had to put up with less beer, in our case we will have to put with fewer amenities from you, the government. So really, who’s suffering is worse? Seriously though, as you make your decisions during these less than ideal times just remember that what you do now may well change all of mankind for thousands of years to come, so make those decisions wisely. I would now like to honor some of our veterans. There is a much forgotten group of citizens who died in a far off land who’s sacrifice is little known, and seldom acknowledged. These 3 men from Campbell County died in the forgotten war – Korea. They were Charles E. Robb, Roselio Jaramillo, and Elmer Levi Wells. All of them gave their lives to maintain this idea of freedom, so before this meeting begins let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. Delay 15 seconds 2017.02.07 There is one new face on the council since I last addressed the council, and to Shay Lundval I would like to say welcome to the “you can’t please anyone profession” Along those lines I would like to say that in our republic it is best that: We should use our freedom to help preserve and strengthen the freedom of all; At this time I would now like to honor some of our veterans. The list of Campbell County Veterans who Died in WWII is very long, and in order to do justice to them I wish to honor 6 at a time. To start this roll call I would like to present the first 6, Francis Siltz, Howard Davis, George Eisele, George Fisher, Earl Stopher Jr, and George C. Cage. These men gave their lives to maintain this idea of freedom, so before this meeting begins let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. 2017.12.19 It is certainly a wondrous time of year here in America. We are coming upon the season celebrating many holidays including Hanukkah, Saturnalia, and the best known holiday Christmas, and then Kwanzaa,. This shows that we have a very diverse population and beliefs, but the strength in America is not that diversity, the strength in America is its freedom which allows for peacefully exist with such a diverse population. This august body has operated with the idea of freedom for everyone and let us hope that we can maintain the greatness of America by continuing through this coming year by honoring the greatest American tradition, freedom for everyone. At this time I would now like to honor some of our veterans. The list of Campbell County Veterans who Died in WWII is very long, and in keeping with honoring all of them order to do justice to them I wish to continue by honoring 6 more. Alvin Christianson, William Morrow, Garland Hatfield, Elmore Yokom, Frank Gilbert, and Wayne Rodman. These men gave their lives to maintain this idea of freedom, so before this meeting begins let us have a moment of silence so each person can, in their own way, acknowledge those who have died – those who are not because of that sacrifice – and welcome those that are because of that same sacrifice. 2018.11.06 Our right to vote is very important. Thank you Madam. Mayor and gentlemen of the Council. 2019.10.15 Over the years addressing this august body I have concentrated on the history of democratic society’s evolution through the ages. It’s rise and fall under several societies. Democracy being a bit of an easy to lose form of government I would like to say that Wyoming seems to have done rather well in the legislative and executive branches, but has made a very egregious error in its implementation of the Judiciary. Our basic laws in Wyoming are based on the US Constitution which is based on the Common Law of England as it was in 1607 and the decision of English courts up to 1776. Now the history of Jury trials comes down to that in no cases what so ever did the English, at the time our US constitution was written, allow a lone member of the judiciary or a lone citizen make any determinations of guilt or innocence except under the most petty of crimes amounting to $12.42 (one shilling) in present money. They were acutely aware from their own experience how the tyranny of the Monarchy (state) grows when left unchecked, at that time their most recent example of having the government be the judge and jury was the Star Chamber in England which was eliminated 135 years before our Constitution was signed. When our constitution was written petty crimes in England were tried by 3 citizen judges – the reason some states (such as Colorado) have 3 jurors. Originally in Wyoming city judges were Elected JP’s and accountable to the people. Originally all trials in Cities were by jury – Cheyenne – Using the Colorado model before statehood. The US Supreme court in Frank v. Unites States Footnote 3 stated that the referencing case of Cheff relied on 18 U.S.C. 1 which defines a petty offense as any misdemeanor which does not exceed six months imprisonment or a fine of not more than $500. WS 5-6-210 says that city judges can fine someone up to $750 – So city ordinances cannot be petty crimes or they harm the US federal law. There are no petty crimes defined in the State of Wyoming. Our Wyoming Constitution says in Article 1, Section 9. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate in criminal cases. So, we seem to losing ground in our courts in the long run. During the remainder of this year and next year the city may want to consider returning the solemn right to trial by Jury to the people. Thank you Madam Mayor and gentlemen of the Council. 2020.07.21 The founders of this country began their Constitution by including a preamble that describes what the political body of this country is supposed to accomplish. Unlike previous constitutions or articles which had defined all other governments our founding document starts with: We the people Those 3 words are the 1st indication that ultimately it is the people’s duty to ensure that the Constitution is enforced properly. And to express what they thought was proper can best be understood by replacing some of the wording with who is responsible for doing it and that means: We the People need to form a more perfect Union As a nation we the people do provide very well for the common defense, but as a nation we seem to have missed out on several of these items. Our sense of justice depends too much on money, and bias; our domestic tranquility is shredded; and since our founding we have totally forgotten to promote the general welfare. Howard Lynde, George William Roe, Stewart Ryff, Everett Gilkison, Allen Southerland, Gene Doran Hoel. 2021.07.20 1. 2016 invocation – The birth of freedom, fairness, and equality was first recorded some 4,100 years ago when Ur-Nammu created his law code. Such societies rose and fell until about 5. Since our Constitutions and creed enshrines this idea of freedom and equality I would like to remind all Americans and a special note to the political people in America that – Our constitutions begin with “We the people. . .” not “Me the person. . .” And in the case of the Nation there are about 350 Million “me’s” in that We the people. In Wyoming there are about 581,000 “me’s” in our “We the people”. Pledge 2022.07.19 The birth of freedom, fairness, and equality was first recorded some 4,100 years ago when Ur-Nammu created his law code. Many societies have risen and fallen since that time most of them not following that idea. Then in 1788 When the US Constitution first declared “We the people In the year since I have last spoken to you there have been some rather tumultuous times around 3 specific actions by the federal government. The 1st two, overturning Roe V Wade and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association V Bruin concern laws governed by the state legislature and not County or the city. There is one case that the city has a direct influences on, that’s Shurtleff et al V City Of Boston. In this ruling the court established that if a government entity allowed a nonreligious entity to use a governmental facility or service or the equivalent at the entities expense them they must allow a religious organization to do the same under the same conditions. This, atleast to me, seems to be in line with the Wyoming Constitution as well. The only qualification in this is that the government cannot spend tax money on whatever this happens to be. In this case the Christian flag being flown on the cities flag staffs could not be prevented because the city was not spending money on the Christian flag or raising or lowering it. Instead the city had put up the flagpole and used it to highlight various organizations within the city and quite obviously the Christian flag was representing an organization in the city so it had the same rights as any other organization. 8 years ago there was another Supreme Court ruling that upset some members of this body, but in the end it all wound up ok. I hope and believe this august body will honor that tradition in light of this new way of doing things. I know wish to honor our some of our WWII Vets who never never made it home. Pledge This article is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and the HypatianSociety.org as well as any noted 3rd party attributions. |
Invocations