I can’t believe this story is on the front page of the paper. A group called Community Builders Foundation used the council chambers to hold a prayer meeting, and now a national organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation has written a letter of complaint to Mayor Jim Ardis about it. They claim it’s a “separation of church and state” issue.

But it’s not. It’s a public building that was used by a group to lawfully assemble and have a prayer meeting. Prayer is still protected by the first amendment.

The real issue is one of equal access. If they’re going to be letting groups use the council chambers, there should be a consistent procedure for scheduling the room and it should be open to everyone. As the story goes on to explain, there is no such procedure, but they’re working on one. The inconsistency doesn’t apply just to religious groups, but also to political uses.

This is a non-story, if you ask me.