Humanism in action: NOSHA versus the City of New Orleans.

ON JULY 24 the New Orleans Times Picayune reported that the city of New Orleans was sponsoring an ecumenical prayer service as one of the Hurricane Katrina commemoration events. It stated that those who wished to be included in the events should contact a person whose email address ended with "mayorofno.org." I sent an email to this contact stating that city sponsorship of a prayer service violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Rather than asking for the event to be cancelled, I asked for secular humanists to participate either before or after the prayer session, as I didn't think it was right for secular people to be excluded. My request was forwarded to another event coordinator, who then failed to respond to my email. After a few days I tried again to elicit a response, but was without success.

The Times Picayune reported in another article that the anniversary events, co-chaired by the mayor's wife and Lt. General Russell Honore, would include an interfaith service and a gospel choir. I received no communication from either cochair.

Finally I wrote to Mayor Ray Nagin explaining my concerns, emphasizing again that secular entities should be included and the event renamed. It wasn't until August 16 that I received a call from the executive director of the Human Relations Commission for the city of New Orleans. Although he hadn't participated in making the decision, he was asked to advise me that my request was denied. I e-mailed him an article about the large and growing secular population in the United States and asked him to encourage the people in the mayor's office to reconsider. His response was another rejection.

Abandoning my conciliatory attitude, I contacted the Louisiana ACLU, the staff of which was incensed about the position of the city. They advised a lawsuit be immediately filed by the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association to stop the proposed prayer service because it would be in violation of the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution. The NOSHA board of directors approved this legal action in the origanization's name, and the ACLU proceeded to prepare the documents.

Upon advising the city attorney of the imminent filing of the suit against the mayor and the city of New Orleans, the Louisiana ACLU was asked to meet with city officials to see if the problem could be worked out. The outcome of that meeting was that the lawsuit wouldn't be filed, the name of the event would become the "City-wide Remembrance, Renewal, and Rebirth Service," and I would be allowed to make a two-minute speech they titled "Secular Humanist Reflections"

It had been previously announced that President George W. Bush would participate in the prayer service at the convention Center. On Aug. 28, the day before the anniversary events, Bush cancelled his appearance. Perhaps he was reluctant to appear at an event where a secular speaker might challenge him. Instead, he and Laura attended a prayer service at the St. Louis Cathedral.

Upon arrival at the participants' assembly room prior to the commencement of the ceremonies, I was surprised that, in addition to the governor, the mayor, and me, there were twenty church leaders on the program plus a choir and other musical groups. We were reminded that we must keep to our allotted time, which in most cases was only one or two minutes, so my two-minute allowance was appropriate.

I was also surprised to learn that my speech would be given prominence due to the fact that it would directly follow the mayor's and governor's speeches. Despite this attention given to my presence, the event was, in reality, a prayer service, and the auditorium audience was there for just that. There were a few insignificant boos during my speech, as had been expected. Even so, the following is what I was given a chance to say in my nationally televised address:

A Secular Humanist Reflection

The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association underwent a month-long struggle to be included in what was a city-sponsored ecumenical prayer service. Only a final threat of a lawsuit persuaded the mayoral staff that their announced event violated the U.S. Constitution respecting freedom of speech and prohibition of government involvement with religion. We hope that the president, who cancelled his appearance here, will also acknowledge the propriety of church-state separation.

The most recent large-scale surveys have shown that 14 percent of the adults in this country responded to the question as to their religion, that they had none. For us secular non-religious people, our strength and dedication to Katrina recovery comes from the acceptance that we live in a natural, not supernatural, world and that the quality of our lives and surroundings depends entirely on what we ourselves do, and our cooperation with other humans.

We are equally important in the rebirth and rebuilding of our city. Our losses are as great as all others in the area; our grief is as deep; our empathy for others is as sincere; and our recovery is as deserved.

The confidence of good persons of faith that the cataclysm was part of God's design provides them with consolation and an optimism that the ultimate reconstruction of their lives will be superior to what was before, and that those whose lives were lost have gone to a better place. We do not begrudge them that comfort.

We secular humanists will be moving forward to assuage our grief and to assure ourselves rewarding lives through morality, reason, and humanity, as we did before Katrina and the flood.

This article previously appeared at www.HumanistNetworkNews.org. Harry Greenberger is a board member of the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association.