To get acceptance to our framed Constitution, there were 10 articles added.

Two of them dealt with religion. Numbers one and 10 limited the government's involvement and the people's rights. Nowhere does it forbid the mention of Jesus Christ in a public gathering.

We are now in an era where that is being challenged more.

When the local spokesperson for atheism delivered a brilliantly prepared combination of "feel-good" words, his effort was to prove that a salutation does not have to include Jesus Christ. It was well-received, but it was not an invocation, because invocation, by definition, includes a supplication, or prayer for aid.

Their thrust would try to set aside the involvement of dedicated pastors and laymen to enhance the proper disposition of our city's affairs, the complexities of which merit the available aid.

The parameters that a City Council must operate under are very confining. Besides being the link to enforce laws established by "higher" levels of government (as well as their predecessors), they have the responsibility to arrange financing for city services, from coping with organized labor demands to patching potholes. Every decision, it seems, is counter to the wills of one group or another.

The only way that can bring harmony is to ask for inspiration. That this has paid off over the years is evident in that it has attracted people to choose to live here, in the environment that Christian churches have maintained.

The generation that knew Gen. Eisenhower and staff prayed for the overcast to lift, so that our Air Force could deal with the deadly German tanks, and shorten the carnage in the Battle of the Bulge. And the later President Eisenhower included the phrase "under God," in our flag salute in gratitude for the answered prayers.

The new generation is electing to go without God? How long will that last? God only knows.

Duane M. Linstrom Sr.

Lodi