City Fire-Safety Booklet Includes Christian Prayer
HCSSC's complaint letter to Fire Chief Attilio K. Leonardi

Attilio K. Leonardi
Fire Chief
Honolulu Fire Department
City and County of Honolulu
3375 Koapaka Street, Suite H425
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819

RE: Prayer included in "Fire Fighters' Safety Guide for Senior Citizens."
Page 1 of 2 sent this date via fax to 831-7777

Dear Chief Leonardi:

The City and County of Honolulu recently produced and printed a new "Fire Fighters' Safety Guide for Senior Citizens." And while the "Safety Guide" is clearly warranted, Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church (HCSSC) has received a complaint and copy of the book from an "annoyed" citizen. HCSSC shares her concerns and hereby files this formal written complaint for a redress of grievance.

The complaint, and the issue at hand, involves the inclusion of the following prayer, printed on the inside back cover just above the official seal of the City and County of Honolulu Fire Department.

A Fire Fighter's Prayer

Whenever I am called to duty, God
Whenever flames may rage
Give me the strength to save some life
Whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person from
The horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert
And hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
Put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling
And give the best in me
To guard my every neighbor
And protect his property.

And if according to Your Will
I have to lose my life
Please bless with your protecting hand
My children and my wife.

By including this prayer in an official government publication and distributing it to the public, the City and County of Honolulu has once again violated the Constitution at taxpayer expense. Beyond the impermissible act of including a sectarian prayer in a government publication, this particular prayer is also sexist with respect to women firefighters and exclusionary with regard to gay and single firefighters.

The "Safety Guide" begins with the following message from Mayor Jeremy Harris: "I am pleased to provide you with this Senior Citizen's Fire Fighter's Safety Guide…. I encourage you to keep this publication handy at all times." This statement constitutes an implicit endorsement of the prayer by Honolulu's highest elected official.

By selecting this particular Judeo-Christian prayer for inclusion in the "Safety Guide," the City and County has demonstrated a preference for monotheistic religion over non-theistic (e.g., Buddhism), pantheistic (e.g., Shintoism), and polytheistic (e.g., Hinduism) religions in particular and for religion generally over non-religion (e.g. atheism, agnosticism).

Nearly 70% of Hawaii residents have chosen to reject the "God" idea espoused by Judeo-Christians and Muslims and many find the idea highly offensive. Only 30% of Hawaii's citizens belong to any of the Judeo-Christian sects. Most Hawaii residents, as many as 62%, are atheist, agnostic, secular humanists or otherwise indifferent to religion. Based on these statistics, published in the State of Hawaii Data Book, it is clear that Hawaii is the most religiously diverse of our nation's 50 states. With this in mind, our government should always remain neutral on matters of religion.

Including a prayer - any prayer - or other religious content in government publications is expressly prohibited under the Constitution.

According to Rob Kubo of the Fire Department's Community Relations Office, 64,000 copies of the "Safety Guide" were printed last week. Of these, 40,000 copies have already been sent out to fire stations and other distribution points on Oahu, while 24,000 copies remain in storage. This mistake has been an enormous waste of taxpayer funds.

Based on this information, and the obvious transgression of constitutional principles, HCSSC hereby demands an immediate recall of all copies from all distribution points, the cancellation of any further distribution, the timely destruction of all offending materials, and the removal of the prayer from any future printings of the "Safety Guide." Ironically, the "Safety Guide" is published on the Fire Department's website, but without the prayer.

Your prompt response to this complaint is appreciated.

Sincerely,

<signature>

Mitchell Kahle
President

CC: Mayor Jeremy Harris

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For more information, email hcssc@lava.net.