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Atheist Delivers Invocation At Alabama City Council Meeting

Huntsville City Hall. (Wikimedia Commons)
Huntsville City Hall. (Wikimedia Commons)

When an atheist gave the invocation at a Huntsville, Alabama, city council meeting last month, some people bowed their heads as they had done during opening prayers in the traditionally Christian community.

According to the media group “Alabama,” it was the first “non-theist invocation to open a public meeting” in Alabama.

The message began “Dearly Beloved,” and went on to praise the “wisdom, courage, justice,” of the American people.

Jeannie Robison, the executive director of the Interfaith Mission Service, is responsible for identifying people to deliver the message.

She joins Here & Now’s Robin Young to discuss how the message was received.

Guest

  • Jeannie Robison, executive director of the Interfaith Mission Service and an ordained deacon of the Episcopal church.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.