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NORTH CAROLINA–A state senator ordered Christian symbols removed from the legislative chapel after some lawmakers complained they were inappropriate, but the head of the Senate ordered the items restored.
State Sen. Tony Rand, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, had staffers take a cross, hymnals and Bibles out of the nondenominational chapel. But Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight reversed the order at the request of other legislators.
“The cross and the Bible are going back in the chapel,” Norma Mills, Basnight’s chief of staff, said Thursday night. “Sen. Basnight felt those were appropriate items.”
The chapel, in the Legislative Building’s rotunda, is a small, mostly unadorned room near the House and Senate chambers. Lawmakers and others occasionally use it for prayer or reflection.
At one time, it had a brass cross and a Star of David. Both were removed several years ago.
In recent years, a group of lawmakers began holding weekly services there. They brought in privately donated Bibles, hymnals, and a cross and left them.
Rand said he received complaints from lawmakers, whom he declined to identify, who felt uncomfortable using the chapel surrounded by so many Christian symbols. He noted that there are lawmakers who are Christian, Jewish and Muslim.
the-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050204/APN/502040775&cachetime=5
State Sen. Tony Rand, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, had staffers take a cross, hymnals and Bibles out of the nondenominational chapel. But Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight reversed the order at the request of other legislators.
“The cross and the Bible are going back in the chapel,” Norma Mills, Basnight’s chief of staff, said Thursday night. “Sen. Basnight felt those were appropriate items.”
The chapel, in the Legislative Building’s rotunda, is a small, mostly unadorned room near the House and Senate chambers. Lawmakers and others occasionally use it for prayer or reflection.
At one time, it had a brass cross and a Star of David. Both were removed several years ago.
In recent years, a group of lawmakers began holding weekly services there. They brought in privately donated Bibles, hymnals, and a cross and left them.
Rand said he received complaints from lawmakers, whom he declined to identify, who felt uncomfortable using the chapel surrounded by so many Christian symbols. He noted that there are lawmakers who are Christian, Jewish and Muslim.
the-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050204/APN/502040775&cachetime=5