Freethought Group Plans to Protest Government Endorsed "Day of Prayer" Event

News Wire: Freethought Group Plans to Protest Government Endorsed "Day of Prayer" Event

Dear Lover of Religious Liberty/Friend,

Please come join the Atlanta Freethought Society in a peaceful protest in support of religious freedom on Thursday morning, 7 May 1998, from 7:00 am to 8:30 am. This is to protest the Cobb County Prayer Breakfast, a blatantly illegal affair (under both the Georgia Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution), since it is being openly supported with taxpayer funds.

The event is set to coincide with a "National Day of Prayer" aimed at entangling government and religion across the USA. The number listed for information and tickets, for many days in a display ad in the Marietta Daily Journal, is the Cobb County Finance Department, 770-528-1503 (a Ms. Beverly Lee Croft, a county employee, can give you information--she faxed me a bio. on the Rev. Al Whittinghill, Minister-At-Large with Ambassadors for Christ International, and she assured me that Rev. Whittinghill is a good Christian, in response to my question).

The newspaper ad also gives the county government as the address for ordering tickets and it displays prominently Rev. Whittington's picture and Christian bona fides. While we in the AFS argue firmly that "Nothing Fails Like Prayer," our primary reason for protesting this illegal event is because of its open endorsement by the county government as a Christian religious event. We do not want ANY government endorsing ANYONE's religion or lack of religion.

We'll gather at 7 a.m. (yes, that *is* early, isn't it?) and protest until about 8:30 a.m. in full view of the rush hour traffic. We'll meet under the pedestrian bridge that spans US 41/Cobb Parkway between Cumberland Mall and Galleria Mall, on the east/Galleria side, just inside the I-285 perimeter (exit 13 if you're eastbound; exit 14 if you're westbound). (The Prayer Breakfast is in the Galleria.)

We'll carry protest signs (bring your own church/state-separation- slogan signs or use some of ours) and peacefully protest on the public sidewalk. Colonel R. D. Stephens of the Cobb County Police Department, 770-499-3904, has assured me that we do not need a permit (we must, of course, not interfere with traffic nor block the sidewalk, etc.).

If you are an AFS member, please wear your AFS green t-shirt if you have one. If you're not an AFS member, please be assured that you will be most welcome to join us. Whether or not you can come next Thursday a.m., please write the Cobb County Finance Dept., 100 Cherokee St., Suite 400, Marietta GA 30060-9610 to complain. Also write a letter to the editor, the Marietta Daily Journal, P.O. Box 449, Marietta GA 30061-0449, or e-mail them at . (I promise to send you a copy of your letter if it gets printed--just give me your postal address.)

Expected attendees, besides lots of county employees (they *are* supposed to take annual leave to come) and preachers, include U.S. Congressman Bob Barr (who has written legislation to protect his right to keep on marrying a series of women while denying others their choice of a mate) and lots of local dignitaries.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please e-mail or call Ed Buckner, protest coordinator, 770-432-3049,

AFS President Kimberly Lyle-Wilson, 770-432-6767, , or AFS VP Jim Wilson, same tel # and e-mail address.

THANKS--see you early on the of 7th May?

Regards,

Ed Buckner

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