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In Florida last week, a moment happened that some members of religious minorities have been anticipating since the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling on sectarian prayer at public meetings. An elected official walked out rather than hear an invocation given by a Pagan. Now, due to similar religious freedom efforts by that same Pagan, the local school board may face a lawsuit for discriminating against minority faiths.
![David Suhor [Courtesy image]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/datanks-375x500.jpg)
David Suhor [Courtesy image]
Suhor has been repeatedly asking permission to offer a prayer before several boards in Escambia County, Florida. The video of Suhor calling to the quarters singing a prayer written by Starhawk with accompanying magical gestures quickly went viral, to the delight of Atheists and others troubled by the SCOTUS decision.
In this video, he stands before the County Commission. However, the county’s school board has repeatedly rejected his requests.
“The resistance is unique to each board,” Suhor said when reached for comment. “The County Commission and school board let each of the five commissioners choose who gives a prayer. The [school] board [members] all said no. [On the] County Commission, the chairman accepted, [but it] took a little pushback before he accepted. My goal is each and every member should be willing to be welcoming of anyone if they’re going [to have prayer, but my] goal is really a moment of silence.”
What Suhor calls “pushback” has been called “pushy and off-putting” by one of those being pushed, school board member Jeff Bergosh. In Suhor’s campaign to have the school board’s meetings follow the same prayer protocol as expected in the classroom (a moment of silence), Suhor has been theatrical. He told a local news reporter that he may choose to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Satan if his requests continue to be denied. On one occasion, he unrolled a prayer mat and chanted while a Christian invocation was delivered. Bergosh characterized this act as distracting, saying on his blog, “I’lll leave the room and come back after, or wear Bose noise cancelling headphones,” rather than witness “disrespectful” behavior during an invocation.
Suhor has also threatened legal action, which prompted the school board to consult its attorney, Donna Waters. “At present, I don’t see that the board has to change its past practice (of holding invocations),” Waters said, adding “that practice does carry some degree of risk for litigation.”
Suhor’s push to force local boards into abandoning the use of an opening invocation goes back long before the controversial SCOTUS decision. “The tradition of allowing each board member to choose who will give the prayer means that they tend to pick their own religion,” he said, “and I’ve sat through a lot of Christian prayers.” He points to his difficulty getting on the calendar; he did it once before at a County Commissioners’ meeting two years ago. But he has been repeatedly rebuffed by the school board. “No one wants to stand for a minority religion,” he said.
What do other local members of those minority religions think about the firestorm Suhor has created? The reactions are generally positive, although the specific content of his prayer is sometimes questioned. While Suhor has participated in Pagan observances at a Unitarian Universalist church, he isn’t well known in the local Pagan community, being mostly solitary. Rev. Edward Livingston of the Fire Dance Church of Wicca said of Suhor:
He has never attended our church or taken part in the greater Pagan community. But not all Pagans like to work in groups or circle with others. I support his challenges to the legal and governmental system, but I also see him as doing this to make them stop using invocations and prayer, but a moment of silence instead. He has said to me he would consider all invocations and prayers outside the normal local top three religions until they change the rules. We are not as political as he is, we are a small Wiccan/Pagan church that provides a ritual 8 times a year for those who want to circle with others.
Cynthia Jurkovic is an ordained Priestess-Hierophant of the Fellowship of Isis who also lives in the panhandle of Florida. She supports Suhor’s goals, but questions his methods. Jurkovic said:
After reading the article about this incident in Escambia County, and watching the news clip from WEAR 3, I have a few thoughts to share. First, I totally agree that if prayer is to be allowed before any meeting of government bodies or other institutions, all spiritual/religious traditions should be given the opportunity to offer a prayer.
Likewise, I support David Suhor’s right to step up to offer Pagan prayers at these government functions. Where I feel he took a wrong turn is in what he presented at this meeting. Invoking the elements is not in alignment with the intention of speaking a prayer to a higher power, however you name it, for wisdom and guidance in decision making, and working toward the highest good regarding the outcome of the meeting.
I thought it was ridiculous that he sang elemental quarter calls. He was not there to cast a ritual circle. The elements are not the same as deities. Why did he not say a prayer to Pagan deities suitable to the intention of the meeting? It appears to me that by coming before the assembled people and then singing elemental quarter calls, complete with gesticulation, that he was purposefully irritating and provoking a dramatic response. This was completely inappropriate!
For Suhor’s part, he’s a musician, and explains that he’s more comfortable singing in public than speaking. “I wasn’t going over the top,” he said, “just expressing as fully as I knew by calling the quarters.” Identifying as a Pantheist, his view on the divine nature of the elements differs from Jurkovic’s. In response to the criticism that the invocation was too long, Suhor responds that he’s sat through many Christian prayers that were longer.
Was he “purposefully irritating and provoking a dramatic response,” as Jurkovic believes? He told one reporter, “In a way I would like for other people to experience what it’s like when I go to a meeting and am asked to pray against my conscience.”
And what about that County Commissioner who walked out? He told a television news reporter, “I’m just not going to have a Pagan or Satanic minister pray for me.” Commissioner Wilson Robertson was not able to be reached for this story, so it is unclear if he’s conflated those two terms, ascribing them both to Suhor, or if he doesn’t care either way.
As for the Escambia County School Board, it continues to be recalcitrant. The Wild Hunt will be watching this story as it develops.
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I wish to echo and emphasize what Cynthia Jurkovic said: How we do this is at least as important as why. If Suhor shoots himself in the foot, as seems likely to me from the article, he does a serious disservice to the very minority religions for whom he claims to be advocating.
I am uncomfortable with someone using a prayer from my religious path to further his political agenda. It think it is disrespectful because he is being disingenuous.
I think intention is important too. Just going on the video above, I don’t think the invocation was too long or too “dramatic.” However if he goes in with the intent of making his audience uncomfortable, rather than sharing his tradition with them, they’re going to sense that and (unsurprisingly) resist. If he’s getting a reputation as an agitator, I don’t think he’s doing his cause any favors. No one wants to deal with a pain in the ass. In particular, counter-chanting over someone else’s invocation is rude and disrespectful. I’d be turned off by that too, it perpetuates misconceptions about how pagans are, and how can you seriously ask for respect when you are blatantly refusing to give it? He can get his point across in other, more respectful ways… and he has, I thought the video was very respectful while simultaneously standing up for his rights as a practitioner of a minority religion.
Being an agitator is a reasonable choice. Being an agitator in the name of my religion, without a sincere religious intent, is distressing.
He has a very sincere intent, just not a religious one. For all his theatrics and clowning, it’s clear he holds the First Amendment and church/state separation to be sacred, and I’m with him on that point.
I agree. I don’t care if he hulahoops wearing roller skates and a clown mask while calling on my very Gods. I’m tired of all this sectarian prayer nonsense. It was all just a ruse to inject more Christianity into government anyway. I applaud him and his efforts and stand behind him. Kudos to you, Mr.Suhor.
I would have done it differently — for one thing, I can’t sing — but found nothing wrong with Suhor’s invocation. Happily, I have never experienced a public body prayer with which to compare it; I guess it’s not a Northern Ohio thing.
Well, it’s not our sensibilities that hold here, it’s those of the others. Suhor: “In a way I would like for other people to experience what it’s like when I go to a meeting and am asked to pray against my conscience.” If his conscious intention is to make them as uncomfortable as they’ve made him, that is a worthy example of the bullet hitting his foot. Retaliation is not a part of any Pagan or Heathen tradition with which I am acquainted. 🙁
Retaliation is a very Heathen thing. Someone wrongs you, the balance needs redressing, either through ƿergild or blood-debt.
The sagas are littered with tales of retaliation for wrongs committed.
Turning the other cheek is very much a Christian thing.
I stand corrected. In my defense, I was thinking more along the lines of seeking justice being mutually exclusive with retaliation.
I don’t even see this as a matter of retaliation but of confrontation for the purpose of justice. It’s a perfectly legal and fairly mild form of confrontation at that. Confrontation cannot be the only tool in the kit in the struggle for social change and justice, but those who aren’t willing to ever employ it walk away with nothing.
He’s on a warrior path of his own finding. I see nothing wrong with that.
It’s difficult to respond to that without looking one or more of angry, arrogant, spiteful or just sound whining. I’d be pleased to have a conversation with him about his found warrior path, if that’s how he consciously sees it.
But I am also on a warrior path, and when debris from other paths start drifting across mine, I find it difficult to ignore. Shrug.
I’d hardly call what he’s doing “warrior”. To do so is a great disservice to those who are actual warriors and who put their lives on the line.
I mean no disrespect. But the fact is that over the last 30 years the term “warrior” has been broadened in scope.
It is under that scope that I intend my usage of the term. I am a serious and very vocal supporter of our military personnel, and I would brook no disrepect to them. If my use of the term “warrior” caused any of them offense, I would stop using it.
I reject that broadening. It is a false equivalence born of hyperbole.
I am not warrior, and no amount of me typing or singing will change that one. I hope that I never see actual war. It sounds absolutely horrific.
It’s off topic, but would you mind getting in contact with me Leoht (a Japanese keyboard can’t do diacretic marks I’m afraid) at seekerfromaus@gmail.com? I lack another means of getting in contact, but I would like to have a private conversation about a few things related to your praxis.
Suhor has my support, 110%. Those who are uncomfortable with him making these prayers rude and disruptive are missing the point. They are clearly meant to be dramatic and outlandish. Change only happens when we shake things up. I am not complacent in getting fed the bread crumb of the Christian patriarchy. Suhor clearly want’s us all to have the full meal. Let’s support that!
I think I’ve got this guy’s number. From his self-description and his past activities, I think he is someone who believes organized religion is irrational, oppressive and ridiculous. Any religious gestures he makes are intended as mockery. Mr. Suhor is a nineteenth century type, what Jews used to call a freethinker, and it’s natural that people like this would turn up in a society where nineteenth century religious and social attitudes predominate.
I agree with Suhor’s stated goal to replace spoken prayers on secular occasions with a moment of silence. Apart from that, gadflies like him serve a useful function.
Mr. Suhor is not accountable to the local pagan community, so it would be a mistake for that pagan community to accept being associated with him or to defend what he’s doing beyond his right to free speech. It would also be a mistake to disavow him or criticize him in any official way. Whatever support or criticism he receives will be turned into fuel for further provocations. Based on this article, it appears to me that the local pagans are wise to this and are pursuing a course of neutrality as best they can.
Anyone who takes any action in this after is going to be criticized by those not taking any action.Unfortunately that is one of the problems in our communities. Do anything and you will be under attack. By the way may I point out that religious rights has always been a political matter, just as the Christians not wanting to allow non-Chirstian prayer is a political matter of maintaining their power and strangle hold over our government bodies. Human rights are political unless backed up politically they do not exist. Religious right questions were ignored by eve our Supreme Court up to the case involving JV Witness kids being forced to say the ledge of allegiance and that was even before they added God to it. Most of American history open religious persecution has been the order of the day include by government decree.
I thought Mr. Suhor did the Invocation beautifully. Only one person left the room; all the other people were respectful, and some of them perhaps even got something spiritual out of it. The person who left the room…I feel sorry that their faith in their own religion wasn’t strong enough to be able to even listen. That seems a weak faith indeed! I don’t feel that invoking the elements is necessarily inappropriate; however, I believe that adding some words might have made it more appropriate…like, for instance, asking that the Guardian of the Watchtower of the North bring wisdom, the West bring understanding, the South bring love, the East bring clear thought…just for example…to the Council’s decisions and work.
He does have a lovely singing voice, and I thought the invocation was quite beautiful. I agree with Mr. Suhor that a moment of silence is a better solution, for those who would like time to pray or ask for blessings before government business of any kind; I think that Greece v. Galloway was a dreadful decision, and opens the door (or wedges it open, as it wasn’t exactly shut beforehand) to what is essentially government-sponsored religion. I don’t care what our current Supreme Court says; I see this as establishment of religion.
That said, while my political sympathies are with Mr. Suhor, I’m uneasy with the apparent lack of sincerity of his prayer. First, because he is as willing to present prayers from any religion outside the Big Three, presumably with little or no training or practice in them… and then, because of the way he has framed his prayers, as having an objective of ending public prayers. While I have no problem with prayer as a political statement, I think it cheapens prayer to offer it when that is the sole purpose of the prayer.
In effect, he is praying, not for purposes that are congruent with his prayers, but to create a disturbing gesture to change policy. It’s the cheapening of his (and our) religion I find upsetting.
I have no problem with a solitary agnostic pantheist Pagan. I do have one with one whose prayers are not grounded in the actual leadings of his spirit.
Maybe I’m picky, I don’t know. But I find it disturbing for reasons very different from those his protest was meant to invoke.
Agreed.
“While I have no problem with prayer as a political statement, I think it cheapens prayer to offer it when that is the sole purpose of the prayer.”…
That is exactly the sole purpose of the Christian prayers that are offered by elected bodies which refuse to accept any religious diversity. It is cheap and insincere and Suhor is shining a spotlight on that fact.
“That is exactly the sole purpose of the Christian prayers that are offered by elected bodies which refuse to accept any religious diversity. It is cheap and insincere…”
I agree. Were I Christian, I would be quite angry and distressed by the practice of, essentially, pretend-prayers by public figures, in the name of a religion I shared.
This is just one of many reasons I’m relieved that I am not (and never have been) a Christian. It would be quite burdensome, knowing so many of my religion were… what’s the phrase Jesus used? “Whited sepulchers”? As I recall, he said something about the proper way to pray being in private, too.
However, as I’m not Christian, my own personal religious feelings are not affronted by the voluntary cheapening of their religious symbols and practices in the interest of their hegemony. Instead, I’m annoyed by the imposition of the majority religion on the minority at a government function.
It’s not Suhor’s intentions that bother me. It’s his doing to my religion what so many Christians are willing to do to theirs–and deliberately, without a religious conviction that the spiritual intention of the prayer matters.
Of course he has the right to do this. But I sort of hate it, and I’m not convinced it’s a useful tool for changing the status quo so much as it’s handing off ammunition to those who already deny the reality of Pagan religion. Sadly.
never?
I saw the video and I didn’t care for the singing. Not that he’s that bad of a singer. It just came off as somewhat cheesy to me. If it had been me – spoken invocation all the way. And I would have worn something more like business casual dress.
That was ridiculously over the top. I understand he was trying to make a point but c’mon now. He might as well lit some candles and cast circle adorned in robes, antlered crown and swinging a censer.
I am a pagan, I celebrate 4 meetings a year. I personally feel faith is a private thing, and feel close to the earth every morning while walking my dog in the woods.
I agree that every faith should be recognised and allowed in meetings at school.
I do feel that Suhor did the right thing in a very wrong way. Instead of showing the chairmen or governors that pagism really isn’t all that different. Doing something beautiful and invoking a pagan deity (or a couple), possibly asking the goddess to protect and educate her children. Cast a blessing. He’s made a parody of us.
The problem Suhor is addressing would not be solved by better interfaith ambassadorship because it is not rooted in misunderstandings about us. It is rooted in a small but very entrenched set of triumphalist Christian elected leaders who feel entitled to abuse their office to promote their religion as the only “real” one in America. They have the tacit blessing of the Supreme Court who basically told them they could promote sectarian religion in public prayer as long as they’re not stupid enough to openly declare that intent.
The one concession prize the Court left us – and it is a big one – is that elected officials cannot actively obstruct diverse participation in the public prayer process. Although we might get a bit of collateral damage from his antics, Suhor is making a parody of public prayer, and an even bigger parody of Christian culture warriors who think they won an exclusive franchise to public prayer in the SCOTUS ruling. There is a place for hearts and minds interfaith work, but we’re not going to win over dominionist county commissioners by putting a warm and non-threatening face on pagan religion. Nor should we try, for the reason that we have no legal burden to make them comfortable with us. The right to equal treatment before the law is not predicated on public officials personal comfort levels or approval of our religion.
“for the reason that we have no legal burden to make them comfortable with us. The right to equal treatment before the law is not predicated on public officials personal comfort levels or approval of our religion.” Just repeating this for emphasis. I agree totally. Our rights are not contingent upon their comfort and it’s a lesson they need to learn.
I thought his invocation was beautiful – he was respectful, subdued, and reasonable. I agree with whoever below said asking for wisdom from the east, love from the west etc. would have been a nice touch, but really that’s just icing.
Chanting while another invocation is being given, though, is way past not ok.
I think perhaps a major point is being overlooked here. And that is the notion that prayer in government is generally not a good idea and borders on violating the 1st Amendment, that is IMHO. By the SCOTUS essentially saying, “No, it’s perfectly OK to offer prayers before government meetings.” they have created a precedent. Prayers, like the one offered in this video, regardless of his intent, should therefore be equal under the law. But as exampled by the opposition to it, Pagan and other forms of prayer are not being treated equally. Thus standing up for our right as Pagans to offer prayer, as given by the Supreme Court, is not only a positive way to promote tolerance and equality, but ALSO to point out the hypocrisy of those very people who fought for this. In other words, be careful what you wish for Religious Right. You want prayer in school and before government meetings? Are you sure? Because that includes this guy and his prayers, or satanic prayers, or any other prayer someone wants to offer. That moment of silence is looking pretty good now isn’t it. Well done, sir. Well done I say.
Interesting dilemma. All those who justify borrowing from other traditions as their right, even if those other traditions don’t approve, can’t really voice an opinion one way or the other as to how this invocation was done without being a hypocrite.
I agree with this. He has openly declared himself an “APPLE biter” (“Agnostic Pagan Pantheist Living Existentially and biting every apple I want to”) and so when other Pagans feel uncomfortable by what he is doing may also want to consider why they feel that way.
I disagree, Kay. I see a distinction between a sincere and worshipful borrowing and one that is simply a form of political theater.
But that’s only your opinion of his worship. Perhaps others see any borrowing of their traditions as insincere theater. I know that’s true in the majority of cases where I see appropriation of Heathen tradition into eclectic practice.
No, I think it’s a reasonable inference from his words, as quoted in the article: “He told a local news reporter that he may choose to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Satan if his requests continue to be denied”… and “He told one reporter, ‘In a way I would like for other people to experience what it’s like when I go to a meeting and am asked to pray against my conscience.’”
That does not sound as if his borrowings are rooted in a sincere and worshipful relationship with the source of the borrowed material; it sounds as if he’s choosing his prayers deliberately to be as offensive as possible.
I can’t help but think that there is larger, overarching, problem with the idea of prayer. Whether we you like it or not, prayer has certain implications when used in a context like the one covered in the article. While I don’t disagree that Suhor’s prayer was a prayer, I would argue that it was more in the spirit of what Christians would call liturgical prayer, something which is entirely inappropriate for the kinds of settings adressed in the video and article. As far as serving his own goal of replacing prayer with moments of silence in secular settings, it was a good choice because it has left a strong impression that will probably sway opinion towards his intended end. However I do question whether the benefit of having secular meetings start with a moment instead of silence is worth the probable damage this particular event could bring.
In Greece v Galloway, Justice Kagan (Jewish) wrote the dissent, with Justices Sotomayor (Catholic), Ginsburg (Jewish), and Breyer (Catholic) joining. Reading the dissent, I see that Justice Kagan understands being outside the majority religion. 2/3 of SCOTUS is Catholic, 1/3 Jewish. I’d think that the Catholic Justices would understand what it is to be unwelcome religiously, but this is not demonstrated. Certainly Jesus’ injunction against praying in public (to make one’s piety noteworthy, as opposed to a group of worshippers coming together to pray in synagogue) is disregarded by the Christian majority on the Court…which makes me wonder.
A moment of silence, I will agree, is the only truly ecumenical/universal prayer. Wonder why no-one before now has brought such a suit worth going all the way up to SCOTUS.
As most have written here, Suhor’s aim of removing all spoken/led prayer in favor of a moment of silence is approved, but the methods–I could wish for more wisdom in the choice of methods.
Exactly. Exactly.
There is an issue however, despite a majority of people agreeing with his ultimate goal, is not just one of whether he is doing the right thing or doing it for the right reasons. Its, futher down the line, not even an issue of whether he is going about things in an appropriate manner. Its an issue of accountability. While he might have an opinion on prayer in secular settings that a lot of us agree upon, he is doing something on behalf of the community but without being a member of the community – by which I mean, he is taking it upon himself to act with the authority of everyone but without being imbued or endowed with that authority – and thus can’t beheld accountable for his actions good, bad or otherwise. Which is a problem.
While there is clearly some tacit approval from Cynthia, its fairly clear that he is acting more out of a personal sense of entitlement to do so. By no stretch of the imagination do I think that he is at fault for doing this because he is a Solitaire, rather than a member of a group, or that a single member of the broader Pagan and Heathen community can’t act on behalf of the community, it would be far better from an internal governance stand point if he had gotten some kind of official backing or sponsorship from an internal authority – for example, CoG – not because he needs to be granted some kind of agency to do this but rather because by acting on his own authority (as opposed to his own authority sponsored or backed by someone) all that we are seeing is an individual acting for an individual’s reasons.
Far better that he be acting as an individual, respresenting the community than acting as an individual, representing an individual with some connection to a community that he might or might not be a part of.
That’s just how things work, though. Has he actually claimed to represent anyone other than himself? Or is he just one man railing against something he disagrees with?
He hasn’t claimed to represent anyone other than himself, you are correct and I would say that yes, he is just one man railing against something that he disagrees with. However because of the way in which he is trying to make his point, as a loud and confronting pagan who is using his pagan-ness to drive his point home there will likely be blow back on others and the sage knodding of the community will only exacerbate some of the rapidly drawn conclusions. In situations like this one even the most renuous of associations can, and often are, seen as evidence that a real connection or link exists between A and B; in this case A is Suhor and B is the community as a whole.
So I think this individual is playing the perfect Holy Fool here. The Fool is irrevereant, stands outside, and mocks things that ought not to be mocked for the purposes of making people uncomfortable in order to make them think. The Fool role can be overdone, but it sounds as if he is walking that line. It’s a tough role though he seems fairly suited to it. Play on, Fool.
I’m somewhat familiar with the Greek god Momus. I have sympathy for the role you ascribe to Suhor and I agree with your point here. My difficulty is with his methods, not with his intent.