Ohio city council stops saying ‘Lord’s Prayer’ under legal threat

The Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio — Under legal threat from a church-state separation group, the City Council has dropped its long-standing practice of opening meetings with the Lord’s Prayer.

Council President Marco Sommerville said the prayer was most likely started to show citizens that council members looked for outside guidance.

After the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State threatened litigation, council members decided to shed tradition, choosing instead to pray privately before meetings.

“I’m delighted that the Akron City Council did the right thing and that no one attending those meetings now feels like a second-class citizen because they don’t believe in the Lord’s Prayer,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “The people who wanted to pray are going to do so before they go into council chambers, and that’s fine.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio also applauded the move.

All 13 Akron council members agreed to cease saying the Lord’s Prayer, not wanting to fight — and lose — in court.

Lawmaker objects to Muslim holy book
OKLAHOMA CITY — A Tulsa-area lawmaker is objecting to the distribution of the Quran by the Governor’s Ethnic American Advisory Council.

“I object to the use of the state Centennial seal and the state seal all in an effort to further their religion,” said Rep. Rex Duncan.

Duncan also wrote his colleagues that he has rejected the gift because, “Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology.”

Marjaneh Seirafi-Pour, a Muslim and chairwoman of the governor’s council, said she received a call from Duncan wondering whether state money was used to buy the books. She said members of the Muslim community paid for the copies.

“We are not trying to force anything on anyone,” she said.

She estimated there are 30,000 to 50,000 Muslims in Oklahoma.

Said Duncan: “My comment is that we never hear those 30,000 to 50,000 Muslims opposing the practice of violence on innocent people.”

Earlier, lawmakers received a copy of the Bible sponsored by The Baptist General Convention in Oklahoma.

“Mine is proudly on my desk on the Capitol, and I don’t think I ever read a part of it that condones the killing of women and children in furtherance of God’s word,” Duncan said.

Brothers: Chicago-area priest molested them
CHICAGO — Two Arizona brothers have filed a civil lawsuit in Chicago alleging a priest already convicted of child abuse molested them.

The suit alleges 77-year-old Reverend Donald McGuire of Oak Lawn, Illinois, molested the boys during confession between 1988 and 2002 in Arizona and in Chicago.

The alleged victims are now 20 and 28 years old.

McGuire was convicted in 2006 in Wisconsin for molesting two boys on retreats in the late 1960s. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 20 years of probation.

A judge has allowed him to remain free and on probation as he appeals his conviction.

No published telephone listing could be found for McGuire in Oak Lawn.