Florida School Board Member Tells Pagan: If You Deliver an Invocation, I’ll Walk Out and Ask the Crowd to Join Me

Here we go again, yet another current example of officials stubborn arrogance and ignorance when it comes to non-Christian beliefs. What's scary about this one is the continued hypocrisy and superstition -- in other words, uneducated and illegal -- not to mention insensitive, comments from a member of a Florida district school board! (Escambia County.) Scary shit here, scary indeed.



David Suhor, a pagan, requesting to lead the prayer/invocation, gets the following treatment from the addle-headed Jeff Bergosh. School board member, no less:

Florida School Board Member Tells Pagan: If You Deliver an Invocation, I’ll Walk Out and Ask the Crowd to Join Me:

In fact, one of the board members, Jeff Bergosh, took to his personal website to write about how he has no intention of letting non-religious people deliver invocations:

"I mean, should the majority of persons in attendance at one of our meetings really have to listen to a satanic verse? What if a “Witch Doctor” comes to the podium with a full-on costume, chicken-feet, a voodoo doll and other associated over-the-top regalia? It could easily get out of hand, so far as I can tell….(I wonder what our local media would say about this?)"

  I won’t stay and listen if someone tries to be disrespectful like that. I’ll leave the room and come back after, or wear BOSE noise cancelling headphones. Or I’ll turn around and raise my fist in the air like the ’68 Olympians did(uh, I’m being sarcastic-I wouldn’t really do that…)…… I won’t be part of someone’s prank. (Jeff Bergosh, school board member)

In response to Suhor, Jeff Bergosh (remember, a supposed educated person serving the public, member of a school board and model for students and citizens) wrote:

When you come to bring your Wiccan, Atheist, or Klingon invocation — I’ll politely excuse myself from the room and simultaneously invite anyone in the audience who wants to join me in a Christian invocation out back. You can give your invocation to those that want to hear it and stay in the room. Nobody will prevent you from your free exercise of your religion, just as I would expect for you not to attempt to block me from exercising my constitutional right to my Christian belief via a Christian invocation outside the back door. A win-win, right Dave? (Bergosh) 

Read more at Jeff Bergosh's website: