8/12/2019 5.29.14CouncilRemarks
1/2
My name is Justin Vacula. I am a co-organizer and spokesperson
for the NEPA reethought !ociety " a
social# educational# acti$ist# and philosophical coalition of
atheists# agnostics# humanists# secularists#
and skeptics predicated on community %hich upholds the
separation of church and state and promotes
critical thinking.
I address council today on t%o matters& my 'Nothing ails
(ike Prayer' )anner pro$ided )y the
reedom rom *eligion oundation and a re+uest for me to pro$ide a
secular in$ocation during councilmeetings as an alternati$e to the
go$ernment-sponsored Judeo-,hristian prayer deli$ered )y
council.
n April / of 0/1 I issued a press release on )ehalf of the NEPA
reethought !ociety announcing theplacement of a )anner on Pu)lic
!+uare reading 'Nothing ails (ike Prayer' in response to the
0/1
,ircle the !+uare 2ith Prayer e$ent. ,ity officials agreed to
hang the )anner from April 3 until May
4.
5he )anner %as hung late on May / " three days follo%ing the
agreed upon display date# $erified in
%riting. *ather than hanging on the front# prominent side of the
scaffolding structure on Pu)lic !+uare
alongside a National 6ay of Prayer )anner and a 'May is Mental
7ealth Month' )anner# my )anner %asune+ually placed on the re$erse
side of the scaffolding structure " out of sight of e$ent
attendees.
,itizens should not )e treated differently if the city allo%s
indi$iduals to display )anners in an open-to-the-pu)lic zone on
city property. Either all messages should )e placed at e+ual
prominence or no
messages should )e placed at all. It is unaccepta)le for city
officials to place atheists' $ie%points in
unprominent locations %hile placing ,hristians' $ie%points in
prominent locations.
ollo%ing the National 6ay of Prayer e$ent I spoke %ith ,ity
Administrator Marie Mc,ormick on
May 4. I %as e8tremely unsatisfied %ith e8planations I recei$ed
for %hy my )anner %as unprominently
placed. Mc,ormick told me city %orkers 9periodically: place
)anners on the re$erse side of thescaffolding structure. 5hroughout
my many years in 2ilkes-;arre# I ha$e ne$er seen )anners on the
opposite side. At least fi$e )anners# during the 0/1 !t.
Patrick's 6ay parade# %ere placed on the front
side of the structure.
Mc,ormick also said# 95here %as an e$ent on the s+uare and they
paid for the %hole s+uare and their
)anner got on the front.: I don't understand %hy# )ecause a
group rented Pu)lic !+uare# %hich hasnothing to do %ith the hanging
of )anners# their )anner %ould )e displayed on the front side of
a
scaffolding structure %hile mine %ould )e displayed on the
re$erse side. urther# the placement of the
'May is Mental 7ealth Month' )anner makes no sense in light of
Mc,ormick's e8planation< if it %erethe case that the prayer
group had e8clusi$e use of the front side of the structure# the May
is Mental
7ealth Month )anner %ould not )e placed on the front side.
I )elie$e the city intentionally placed my )anner on the re$erse
side of the structure )ecause someone "or many persons " did not
like my message and instead preferred the National 6ay of Prayer
message "
especially in light of ,ity 7all recently closing 9in o)ser$ance
of =ood riday: >recognizing a non-
federal ,hristian holiday?< past delays %ith my )anners<
Mayor (eighton referring to council mem)ersas 9people of faith: at
a May @# 0/ council meeting< Mayor (eighton# in response to a
+uestion
from a 2ilkes-;arre citizen a)out the )anner# saying 9sometimes
our hands are tied: and 9this is one of
those cases#: and 92e li$e in a free county. Bnfortunately
e$eryone has the rights to say %hate$er %hatthey %ant to say: also
at a May @# 0/ council meeting.
VE* -C
