FFRF letter: SRS urged to eliminate promoting prayer

A few months after Aiken City Council received a letter from a nonprofit organization calling for prayer to be eliminated from regular meetings, a second letter from the same group has made its way to Aiken County, this time to the Savannah River Site.

In a letter dated Aug. 3, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national organization that has as its purpose to "protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church," urged SRS to discontinue the use of its resources to "plan, organize and promote" National Day of Prayer events, which take place on the first Thursday of May each year.

On the National Day of Prayer, a federally sanctioned event established by an act of Congress in 1952, SRS allows employees to organize observances, use limited SRS resources - such as e-mail and flier creation - to promote the event and observe during their work time, according to SRS spokesman James Guisti.

Employees plan and participate in the event on their own time voluntarily, and there is no incentive or penalty for participants or nonparticipants.

FFRF, an organization with 16,000 members nationwide, claims that because the event is government-sponsored, it inherently makes employees feel as though it is something they have to participate in, according to staff attorney Rebecca Markert.

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from endorsing, advancing or promoting religion," the FFRF complaint letter to SRS read. "Therefore, it is grossly illegal and inappropriate for the DOE to be hosting, organizing, supporting or otherwise promoting a patently religious event, such as a prayer observance."

DOE's response to the organization addressed the fact that the majority - 12,000 - of the employees at SRS work for contractors, while 420 SRS employees are federal workers. The observances were organized by private sector employees of the contractors and were not sponsored by either of the two federal offices that oversee SRS, DOE said.

FFRF also took issue with an e-mail circulated through the Savannah River National Laboratory e-mail system on May 6, which informed employees of 19 locations on the site where employees planned to meet and observe the day of prayer.

The e-mail, Markert said, was inappropriate because it included Bible verses. DOE's letter back to FFRF indicated that SRS advised its contractors that "in these circumstances, references to specific Bible verse in circulated material would be inappropriate." The letter also indicated that while SRS will review its policies, it stands by the employees' right to organize and publicize these observances.

DOE cited the Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace, which state that federal agencies shall permit personal religious expression by federal employees "to the greatest extent possible, consistent with requirements of law and interests in workplace efficiency."

The e-mail to employees on May 6 stated: "The SRS observances are voluntary and will be held on employees' own time. You are invited to join other site employees, and thousands of other Americans, in prayer for our state and national leaders, our school systems, our families, and our coworkers and managers. You may pray individually or in groups as you choose in your work areas."

Prayer observances are not to exceed the time allotted for the lunch period. The resources that employees use in planning these observances are minimal, Guisti said.

In August, members of Lakeside Baptist Church in Clearwater organized a prayer rally to show support for the Aiken City Council, which has since altered its regular prayer.

"It's just political correctness gone too far," said Lakeside Pastor Tad Marshall, one of the rally organizers. "There's an organized effort to remove God and the Bible and prayer out of our lives."

Marshall said he would encourage employees to let their wishes be heard.

FFRF typically acts in response to complaints from people who remain anonymous. In this case, the organization is acting on behalf of an SRNL employee who submitted a complaint in August.

The next step, Markert said, is that the government agency may be affected by the foundation's lawsuit against the National Day of Prayer statute.

Contact Anna Dolianitis at adolianitis@aikenstandard.com.