Dave Berman

FLORIDA TODAY

Brevard County could face a religious discrimination lawsuit from an organization of atheists and agnostics, after the County Commission said the organization is not the type of group that would be permitted to give the opening invocation at commission meetings.

Commissioners today unanimously voted to send David Williamson of Oviedo, founder and chair of the Central Florida Freethought Community, a letter, saying his group does not qualify to deliver the invocation,which the commission defined as "an opening prayer, presented by members of our faith community."

The letter said, as an alternative, a representative of the group could speak for three minutes during the public comment period near the end of the commission meeting.

Central Florida Freethought Community members and supporters argue that's not the same thing, and Williamson said after the meeting that he would consult with legal experts on what his group's next step will be.

POLL:Do you think an atheist/agnostic group should be allowed to lead the invocation at commission meetings?

"It was very disappointing that the vote was 5-0," Williamson said. "Everyone can be treated equal, except when it comes to religion, it appears. What we were seeking is inclusion."

Joseph Richardson of Winter Garden, a member of the Central Florida Freethought Community group,told commissioners the action they wound up taking equates to separate schools, water fountains and sections of bus seating for blacks during the period of racial segregation.

He called the board's decision "patently unfair, unequal and unconstitutional. Your proposed response is discriminatory, plain and simple. It's offensive, discriminatory and illegal."

The issue arose when County Commission Chair Mary Bolin Lewis received a letter from Williamson, asking that a member of his group be put on the rotation to deliver the invocation. Bolin Lewis, together with County Attorney Scott Knox, crafted a response, which the commission authorized be sent out.

"The prayer is delivered during the ceremonial portion of the county's meeting, and typically invokes guidance for the County Commission from the highest spiritual authority, a higher authority which a substantial body of Brevard constituents believe to exist," the letter states. "The invocation is also meant to lend gravity to the occasion, to reflect values long part of the county's heritage, and to acknowledge the place religion holds in the lives of many private citizens in Brevard County."

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a long-standing tradition of beginning government meetings with a prayer, citing the nation's history of granting faith a limited role in some public settings.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority decision in the case involving the town of Greece in upstate New York, argued that "the inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers."

Bolin Lewis said she is confident in Knox's legal interpretation that the County Commission would be within its rights to not have an organization of atheists and agnostics deliver the invocation.

Currently, the five county commissioners, on a rotating basis, select the clergy to give the invocation. Bolin Lewis said representatives from various religious faiths have been represented over the years, including Adventists, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Muslims and Protestants.

Palm Bay resident David Kearns, a candidate for Florida House of Representatives, spoke in support of the Central Florida Freethought Community. He suggested that the County Commission set aside "a moment of silence and gravity and solemnity" at the start of commission meetings, rather than a prayer by a member of the clergy.

As it turned out, by coincidence, that was what happened at the start of today's commission meeting. The scheduled clergyperson was unable to get to the meeting, and the commission observed a moment of silence instead.

Kearns warned that, by continuing to invite religious groups to deliver the invocation, the commission could be opening itself up to having "the Spaghetti Monster people here. You're going to have the Wicca here. You're throwing down the gauntlet against people who might not believe precisely as you do."

Carol Buchert of Merritt Island had a different view. She told commissioners she believes "the vast majority of people that live in Brevard ... would support the board on the position you have taken" in excluding an organization of atheists and agnostics from delivering the invocation, but offering them time during the public comment period.

Williamson said his group includes people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, humanists, free-thinkers or skeptics. He estimated that about 20 percent of the residents of the United States are unaffiliated with any religion.

He said other county and municipal government bodies in Central Florida had no problem allowing a representative of the Central Florida Freethought Community to deliver an invocation at their meetings. A representative of the organization already has done invocations before the county government bodies in Osceola and Volusia counties, and city government bodies in Eustis, Groveland, Orlando and Winter Park.

County Commissioner Andy Anderson said he's comfortable with the commission's decision Tuesday.

"I need all the prayer in my life I can get to get through these meetings," Anderson said.

Contact Berman at 321-241-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him at @ByDaveBerman