9/11 Ceremony Won't Include Religious Leaders: Bloomberg

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tightly choreographed ceremony to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 will not include any religious leaders, his office confirmed to the Wall Street Journal, a move that has put some pious politicians and clergy into a tizzy.

"This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me," Rudy Washington, former Deputy Mayor to Rudy Giuliani who organized an interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium shorty after the 9/11 attacks, told the Journal. "I feel like America has lost its way."

And City Council Member Fernando Cabrera, a pastor at New Life Outreach International, a Bronx church said he was disappointed and shocked by the news and felt that the clergy's exclusion from the ceremony was "wiping out the recognition of the importance that spirituality plays on that day."

The complaints are the latest in a series of criticisms leveled at Bloomberg's plan for the ceremony, which will likely draw an international audience.

Bloomberg announced last month that the ceremony would be led by President Obama, former President George W. Bush, Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Christie, former NY Governor George Pataki, Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Last week, Chris Christie griped that former New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco, who was Governor during the September 11th attacks, wasn't included in the ceremony. Bloomberg then added DiFrancesco to the list of speakers.

Also last week, it was reported that Governor Cuomo was quietly pushing the Bloomberg administration to allow him to give more substantive remarks at the ceremony, i.e. a speech.

The elected officials at the ceremony will only read lines of preselected poetry and Bloomberg has made it clear that no one will give a political speech.

"There are hundreds of important people that have offered to participate over the last nine years," Evelyn Erskine, a mayoral spokeswoman told the Journal in response to religious leaders' outrage, "but the focus remains on the families of the thousands who died on Sept. 11."

During the 2001 "Prayer for America" service at Yankee Stadium, organized by Rudy Washington, leaders representing all of the major religions addressed a large crowd and even larger TV audience.

An interfaith ceremony will be held this September 6 to honor 9/11 first responders, another group that decried their exclusion from the ceremony.

Mr. Washington is considering holding a news conference on September 11th to object to the clergy's exclusion from the ceremony.

Comments

[Theresa Overton]

11:06 AM on 09/07/2011

Isaiah 45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:.... ** I am really concerned about the people that call them selves Christians or call them selves "religious"... We should go out telling others about God the Father that created the world and all that is in it. If seems strange that those people think we should take our prayers to our own church or homes. What happened to the freedom that we are supposed to have. That freedom is being taking away from us thats what!! We shouldnt go out with hate on our agenda. We are to love them and pray for them. I feel we should be able to go and pray as we desire... As for me, it would be in the Name of Jesus Christ my Lord... Im NOT RELIGIOUS...BUT... A Christian... Lord give us strength to stand

[tedhices]

04:57 PM on 09/01/2011

I am much more concerned about the 9/11 first responders that are barred from their own ceremony.

[DannyEVillage]

09:18 PM on 08/31/2011

clearly it's an AOL crowd here tonight. I'd like to say I've never seen so much hate in the name of "religion" and "god" but unfortunately, I see it in the republican party every day of my life. This thread is a foul cesspool. I'm going to bed.

[DannyEVillage]

09:16 PM on 08/31/2011

I've often said that religious people are the meanest people on the planet. One look at the nastiness on this thread proves it.

[DannyEVillage]

04:14 PM on 08/31/2011

I'm a deeply religious person--a practicing Anglican Christian. My office is directly next door to the WTC site. And I am SICK TO DEATH of the myriad fake-piety-and-religious-spin--all of it from all sides--given to the 911 event over the years. Everything from the malarkey around that silly cross of steel beams to the controversy stirred up by hate-filled non-New Yorkers about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" nauseate me. I'm delighted with the mayor's decision. If people want to conduct religious observances around this anniversary, let them do so in their own places of worship--just as, if they want to pray, let them do THAT in their own homes. I'm past fed-up with the fake public piety of this country. Today Bloomberg's The Man.

[CR90]

10:07 PM on 08/30/2011

One of the reasons the Muslim extremists did what they did on that day is because they hate how tolerant we supposedly are towards every religion. By excluding religion of any kind from this ceremony they are winning. Congratulations Liberals.

[mainpain]

04:03 PM on 08/29/2011

Then the alternative, which I think is better, is to have a separate memorial service. Make it for Worship and call it a Thanksgiving Concert to our God. Worship will bring these walls down!

[DannyEVillage]

04:15 PM on 08/31/2011

Let 'em do so in their own temples, churches, mosques. Religion has no place in a civic public ceremony.

[mainpain]

04:31 PM on 08/31/2011

civic and public is us, the citizens, not the government. Perhaps because this was such a public event with civil servants responding and military involved, no one should have been allowed to pray as the towers were under attack, or the families that escaped should not be allowed to thank God for this. Sorry, but you who think prayer and God is wrong are infringing on my civil rights.

[Abelardo Perez]

02:36 AM on 08/29/2011

conservatives' minds are EXPLODING!!!!!!!

[Tea for me]

03:22 AM on 08/27/2011

Well chosen poetry, read effectively, will move people, cause them to stop and reflect, move from within their own experiences and spread outward to include all.

I applaud the decision to leave out political speeches and individual religions and to focus on those we are memorializing. This does not denigrate religious/nonreligious beliefs.....but focuses our minds and hearts where they should be focused.

Peace ...from Tea

[jfbuf]

10:52 PM on 08/26/2011

good job Mike, the last thing we need is a bunch of religious hacks hawking their religion to make themselves feel good.

[ChampionWriter]

10:45 PM on 08/26/2011

Maybe they should bring in some ice sculptures and fake snow to show what a cold ceremony this is going to be.

[Tea for me]

03:25 AM on 08/27/2011

Don't have any experience with the beauty of poetry? Look to the old testament if you would..poems abound. So, well chosen poems will warm, sooth, .....

[ChampionWriter]

02:05 PM on 08/27/2011

I have experience with poetry...and lyrics. I wrote a poem about 9/11.."For the Victims and Their Loved Ones....It's United We Stand." It was published and a song was made on youtube called "Soldier" from it (Penny Danger). It mentions the word "pray" so it would not make it to a government function...but I was told by some victim's families at the time in 2001 that it comforted them.

[DannyEVillage]

04:17 PM on 08/31/2011

The OT isn't the only place one can go for poetry.

[see-ellen2001]

06:28 PM on 08/26/2011

Whatever happened to a moment of silence? Each person fills the time however they see fit: prayer, recitation, reflection, meditation, whatever. That will respect everyone across the board. Religious institutions can hold services on that day for their particular congregants.

[gsmp]

02:24 PM on 08/26/2011

Good! Keep 'em all out or you'll end up with the likes of the westborophelpsfiends showing up. They are in desperate of a new lawsuit...the family cashcow.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

01:15 PM on 08/26/2011

While I am usually in favor of keeping religion out of any public event not held in a house of worship, this was done only to prevent a quagmire of should we or shouldn't we invite muslim clerics....................

[XxDisfngustedxX]

07:01 AM on 08/26/2011

Good. This act was done in the name of religion
as are most mass killings.

Why continue to glorify this nonsense?