NYC Mayor Criticized for Decision to Exclude Clergy From 9/11 Ceremony

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Some New York politicians and religious leaders are criticizing Mayor Michael Bloomberg for not offering clergy members a role in the high-profile ceremonies marking 10 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Rudy Washington, a former deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. “I feel like America has lost its way.”

A spokewoman from Bloomberg’s office told The Journal that the focus, as in past years, will be on the family members of the fallen. Rabbi Joseph Potasnik told the paper he understood the mayor’s decision, saying, “I don’t know how to make it possible for everyone to have a place at the table.”

But opponents say faith played an important role in the country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

There was a plethora of interfaith events, and New York Magazine even named New York Fire Department chaplain Mychal Judge, who died in the attack and is immortalized in a picture being carried from a tower, the “most famous victim of the World Trade Center attack.”

Read more: foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24/nyc-mayor-criticized-for-decision-to-exclude-clergy-from-11-ceremony/#ixzz1W3lQrKCX
 
Bloomberg is another liberal who has problems connecting with reality.
 
More and more it seems the religious are becoming a Pariah in the Western world. When decades ago it’d be unthinkable to give clergy the cold shoulder in such a tragic event, now it’s thought of as nothing; worrying more about being Politically Correct than simply giving everyone that asks for a place to lead the faithful in prayer.

This will only fuel those who believe that the religious should be barred from the 9/11 service because it was extremist faith in Islam that caused the attack in the first place.
 
_Abyssinia said:
Some New York politicians and religious leaders are criticizing Mayor Michael Bloomberg for not offering clergy members a role in the high-profile ceremonies marking 10 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Rudy Washington, a former deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. “I feel like America has lost its way.”

A spokewoman from Bloomberg’s office told The Journal that the focus, as in past years, will be on the family members of the fallen. Rabbi Joseph Potasnik told the paper he understood the mayor’s decision, saying, “I don’t know how to make it possible for everyone to have a place at the table.”

But opponents say faith played an important role in the country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

There was a plethora of interfaith events, and New York Magazine even named New York Fire Department chaplain Mychal Judge, who died in the attack and is immortalized in a picture being carried from a tower, the “most famous victim of the World Trade Center attack.”

Read more: foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24/nyc-mayor-criticized-for-decision-to-exclude-clergy-from-11-ceremony/#ixzz1W3lQrKCX
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He should be soundly criticized for it in fact I wish there could be an organized effort to boycott it. Apparently secular Jews want to continue to capitalize on the 911 tragedy so by excluding believing religions the flames of hatred can better be fanned. The former Deputy Mayor is right it is insanity, but our society has inbibed this insanity for so long now that it has become our national mindset.
If Rabbi Postasnik doesn’t know how to make room for everyone at the table he should just move aside and let someone who does sit down.
 
The only good thing Bloomberg every did for NYC was have no smoking in restaurants.

Other than that the man is not only money hungry just a terrible mayor :sad_yes:
 
_Abyssinia said:
Some New York politicians and religious leaders are criticizing Mayor Michael Bloomberg for not offering clergy members a role in the high-profile ceremonies marking 10 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Rudy Washington, a former deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. “I feel like America has lost its way.”

A spokewoman from Bloomberg’s office told The Journal that the focus, as in past years, will be on the family members of the fallen. Rabbi Joseph Potasnik told the paper he understood the mayor’s decision, saying, “I don’t know how to make it possible for everyone to have a place at the table.”

But opponents say faith played an important role in the country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

There was a plethora of interfaith events, and New York Magazine even named New York Fire Department chaplain Mychal Judge, who died in the attack and is immortalized in a picture being carried from a tower, the “most famous victim of the World Trade Center attack.”

Read more: foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24/nyc-mayor-criticized-for-decision-to-exclude-clergy-from-11-ceremony/#ixzz1W3lQrKCX
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Sometimes I agree with Mayor Bloomberg, and other times I disagree. On this issue, I disagree with him. He says the ceremony should be about the families and first responders and that the event would be too cluttered with all the politicians invited. Perhaps. But couldn’t we have brief talks by, say, three to five religious leaders from different faiths? Maybe the religious leaders who don’t speak can just be present. I know the leaders won’t represent every religion (and there are atheists as well), but I personally wouldn’t feel offended if a rabbi doesn’t speak. I think there are times when strict political correctness must be weighed against doing something that may give people renewed courage, hope, and inspiration.
 
brumano said:
He should be soundly criticized for it in fact I wish there could be an organized effort to boycott it. Apparently secular Jews want to continue to capitalize on the 911 tragedy so by excluding believing religions the flames of hatred can better be fanned. The former Deputy Mayor is right it is insanity, but our society has inbibed this insanity for so long now that it has become our national mindset.
If Rabbi Postasnik doesn’t know how to make room for everyone at the table he should just move aside and let someone who does sit down.
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I don’t necessarily disagree with some of what you’re saying. But how exactly is it that “secular Jews” (meaning atheist Jews?) desire to capitalize on 9/11? BTW, I understand Rabbi Postasnik is the Jewish chaplain of the FDNY, and he’ll be there.
 
NewsMax:
New York Mayor Bloomberg Bans Religion at 9/11 Ceremony
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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is under attack for refusing to allow members of the clergy to play a role in the city’s commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
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Bloomberg insists the ceremonies should focus on the families of those killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. He is also barring political speech. But pastors and politicians are lining up to lambast his decision, reports The Wall Street Journal.
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“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Rudy Washington, a deputy mayor under Bloomberg’s predecessor Rudy Giuliani, who organized a nationally televised interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium in the days after the 2001 attacks.
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“I feel like America has lost its way,” added Washington. “I am very upset about it. This is crazy.”
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New York City Council member Fernando Cabrera, a pastor in the Bronx, said faith was one of the “pillars that carried us through” the days after the attacks and called religious leaders “the spiritual and emotional backbone.”
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“When you have a situation where people are trying to find meaning, where something is bigger than them, when you have a crisis of this level, they often look to the clergy," added Cabrera, who said excluding religious leaders from the ceremony was “wiping out the recognition of the importance that spirituality plays on that day.”
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related
CNN:
The first responders are not invited to this year’s September 11 memorial ceremony at ground zero, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office confirmed Monday.
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It’s a painful insult for many of the approximately 3,000 men and women who risked their lives, limbs and lungs on that monumental day, puncturing another hole in a still searing wound.
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In a statement, Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said the commemoration ceremony is for the victims’ families.
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“While we are again focused on accommodating victims’ family members, given the space constraints, we’re working to find ways to recognize and honor first responders, and other groups, at different places and times,” Brent said.
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Greetings Didymus,

I will be keeping your country in my prayer on that day. I am saddened as to what Mayor Bloomberg has done. It was, in my opinion, belief in God that most aided the people of your country when the towers fell on that bleak day. I will pray that Mayor Bloomberg may have a change of heart it is God’s Will.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
 
There’s probably not much legally that can be done about it; however perhaps those who want to have prayers included can always conduct their own ceremonies outside of the 911 group in their houses of worship or perhaps a local park nearby, etc.

If you set your mind to it, no one can ever keep you from praying no matter where you are. If I were attending the ceremony, I’d simply do a series of silent prayers.
 
Flavius_Aetius said:
More and more it seems the religious are becoming a Pariah in the Western world. When decades ago it’d be unthinkable to give clergy the cold shoulder in such a tragic event, now it’s thought of as nothing; worrying more about being Politically Correct than simply giving everyone that asks for a place to lead the faithful in prayer.

This will only fuel those who believe that the religious should be barred from the 9/11 service because it was extremist faith in Islam that caused the attack in the first place.
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The new national religion is Political Correctness. It worships a triune god: Tolerance, Diversity, and Multiculturalism. Its anathemas are personal wealth and sexual self-control, its creed is that there must be no tradional Western or Judeo-Christian standards whatsoever, and it’s one unpardonable sin is intolerance for any reason at all, regardless.
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings Didymus,

I will be keeping your country in my prayer on that day. I am saddened as to what Mayor Bloomberg has done. It was, in my opinion, belief in God that most aided the people of your country when the towers fell on that bleak day. I will pray that Mayor Bloomberg may have a change of heart it is God’s Will.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
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Thank you & welcome to the forums. I am also from the 3rd planet!

I think worse than not inviting clergy which one could debate is his exclusion of the first responders.
 
The correct response is to skip his ceremony and hold a different and more accurate one someplace else. Bloomberg is the kind of man that symbolizes the dangers of government and ego.
 
It’s as if people like Bloomberg have forgotten not just 9/11, but what really matters. :bighanky:

It makes me ashamed of our country for its kowtowing to political correctness.
 
didymus said:
Thank you & welcome to the forums. I am also from the 3rd planet!

I think worse than not inviting clergy which one could debate is his exclusion of the first responders.
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It’s very complicated though. If you were a family member of a victim you might feel differently. There is certainly an argument to be made that the events of the day itself should be limited to those who perished in the attacks.

As far at the religious figures I feel this certainly could have been done AS LONG as representatives of not only Christian, but also other faiths were included.
 
Of course, when a liberal censors or forbids something, it isn’t *really *censorship, is it . . . . . . Really, just a celebration of “freedom,” right?
 
Do you remember the members of Congress on the steps at the Capitol spontaneously breaking into singing “God Bless America” together?

That was religious, the true religious concept our nation was founded on. It was a group of politicians, but it was not political. It was an extremely diverse group, but it was not about diversity, but unity. It was a prayer, although these men and women represent a nation comprised of every religion and no religion.

That is the spirit Mayor Bloomberg should strive to recapture on September 11, and every elected leader who calls himself an American and a patriot. Sept. 11 is Patriot Day, not wimp-out day.
 
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