Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly Member Glen Thompson has recanted some of the statements he made during Monday night’s discussion of adding a prayer to the regular meeting agenda.
During the meeting, Thompson said he wouldn’t want to allow Satanists or atheists to lead an invocation. On Tuesday, though, he said he thought about the issue overnight and changed his mind.
“I really do believe that if we move forward with this type of invocation, we have to be inclusive,” he said. “We can’t exclude atheists, we can’t exclude paganists. I don’t anticipate there’s going to be very many of them wanting to come and present a prayer to us, but if we’re going to have this type of a ceremony, it should be inclusive and anyone who wants to sign up should have the right to do so.”
Thompson says his comment Monday during the meeting was said in the heat of the moment.
“That’s not where I stand. I’m a Constitutionist, and we have to have access to our government, we have to have inclusion. I’m OK with it,” he said.
Thompson and Assembly Member Agnes Moran proposed the ordinance for consideration. It passed in a 4-3 vote Monday night, but still needs another vote before it is finalized. That vote and a public hearing on the issue is set for Oct. 20th.
