In 2010, I wrote a couple of posts about Mayor Bill Knight of Greensboro, North Carolina and how he supported open prayer before city council meetings.

Members of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Atheists/Agnostics/Skeptics group spoke out against the public prayers at the city council meetings but Knight didn’t care. His public display of faith was more important to him than making sure the entire community felt included in the meetings.

But that was 2010.

There’s been a change since the November election and someone else is in charge of those meetings now:

Daniel Foster explains:

While Knight ignored our appeals for inclusiveness, our perseverance did not go unnoticed. One council member, Robbie Perkins, supported reinstating the moment of silence from the onset and promised our group he would deliver if elected mayor. While the UNCG AAS doesn’t explicitly endorse candidates, many of our members gathered at the ballot (some for the first time) and cast their vote. The election was a landslide and Mayor Perkins opened his first meeting with a moment of silence!

Yes, it would be better if the new mayor did away with the moment of silence altogether and, you know, got down to actual work. But given the city council’s past, this is a welcome gesture from Mayor Perkins and evidence that a small group of activists can make a difference in local government.



