Atheist group attempts to block church from assembling

In Cambier Park in Naples, Florida, the Celebration Beach Church has been meeting most Sundays for eight years. Their attendance is usually about 1,000 - a figure many churches would be happy to reach. They lease the space in the public park for this purpose, and the city leases the park for other groups as well. Normally, that would be considered fine. After all, if they would lease the park for weekly meetings of a Frisbee group or some such, should they be expected to deny the use to a group that is religious?

Apparently some would expect them to do just that. The Freedom From Religion Foundation complains that the leases are granted by the City Council, and the council has members who are Christian. Suppose the Boy Scouts wanted to use the park. Would the council have to be free from having any scout leaders or former scouts? Sports teams?

It's an interesting concept. I might have thought it a GOOD thing that council members were involved in their community in various ways. But councils often have to consider issues affecting houses of worship. Should religious people be kept from serving on councils?

Let's not forget that the founders who ratified the Constitution approved of and attended regular religious worship services on federal property. This included the halls of Congress and other official buildings in the capitol. Should the Congress have been cleared of any members who attended religious services before approving such a thing? That would have made for a very small voting block indeed.

Watchdog groups can serve a valuable purpose. But this group's complaint seems totally beyond reason.

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Atheist group attempts to block church from assembling