Interview on “Corbett” concerning Wilkes-Barre City Council government-led prayer

I appeared on the June 14, 2013 episode of “Corbett” on WILK Newsradio to discuss my June 13, 2013 address to Wilkes-Barre City Council in which I objected to government-led prayer at council meetings and urged council to remove prayer from future governmental functions. Listen to my interview embedded below within this piece.

I — repeating some remarks I made before council — explained that government-led prayer is exclusionary, divisive, unwelcome, and unnecessary. Further, I noted that the prayer — contrary to some news reporting — was not before meetings, but rather was during meetings – after the Pledge of Allegiance which is featured on meeting agendas. Citizens who attend public meetings (many religious, non-religious, and from diverse religious traditions) — I argue — should not be subjected to government-endorsed prayer.

Corbett largely agreed with my remarks in the interview; he considered Wilkes-Barre City Council prayer, led by Councilwoman Maureen Lavelle, to be “out of line” and “bad public policy.” He is not optimistic, though, concerning whether council will remove prayer because, he says, they are not listening to me and are of an old-school mentality “liking their Christian prayer.”

Watch my address to council below and read more concerning my objection to council prayer in this extensive piece.

As always, free to to join the discussion by adding your comments. If you are commenting on a particular point in my conversation with Corbett, please indicate a timestamp.