A Florida county has denied an atheist group’s request to erect a public monument next to its courthouse’s Ten Commandments monument.

The Levy County Commission voted, unanimously, to deny the Williston Atheists’s request to erect an atheist monument, citing an incomplete permit application.

County Coordinator Fred Moody told WCJB-TV that “the vote was unanimous to deny the application at this time and that was based on the fact that the application in the opinion of our board was not complete, it did not meet all of the guidelines.”

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Ray Sparrow, the organizer of the Williston Atheists, says that the incomplete application is just an excuse “being used as an excuse to deny [the request] and to placate the majority religious community that opposes it.”

“The majority of citizens in the community are deeply religious – I understand that, but there are also citizens of this community who are not religious,” he said. “They choose to be represented in a public forum that is available to all citizens so we choose to be represented too.”

The Williston group is trying to mimic the recent successes of other atheist groups in having their monuments placed on public property. According to the group’s Meetup.com page, this rejection by the Levy County Commission was expected, and will not deter the Williston Atheists from fighting to have their monument erected.

[Image via Flickr user abiodork, Creative Commons licensed]