Letter Chides Laguna Niguel Over Bible Week

“Why us?” asked an exasperated Laguna Niguel Mayor Mark Goodman on Wednesday. “Why me?”

Goodman, still smarting from a controversy over a councilman’s use of city stationery for a letter decrying O.J. Simpson’s acquittal, now has a member of the American Civil Liberties Union after him.

This time it’s not Simpson but the council’s recent resolution in support of National Bible Week, celebrated through Nov. 26.

And the questionable use of official stationery is involved in this one too.

In a letter to Goodman on ACLU stationery dated Nov. 20, the Orange County chapter’s Kevin LaPoint rips into the resolution, which he contends singles out the Bible for “special promotion by the government.”

This “sends a message to other religious groups in your community that they may not be as important as Christians,” writes LaPoint, speaking for himself and neither the ACLU’s Orange County chapter nor the national group.

Goodman called the letter “unbelievable.” Although the resolution was the first of its kind in Laguna Niguel, it was passed unanimously by the council and Goodman considered it a “slam dunk.” More than 400 cities nationwide, including Garden Grove and Westminster, have passed similar resolutions, according to a Laguna Niguel city spokeswoman.

“I want to ask this guy why he’s writing me and not Bill Clinton,” Goodman said. “He’s the national chairman of Bible Week, which we have been celebrating in this country for 55 years, for goodness’ sake.”

LaPoint, a Fullerton resident and secretary of the county ACLU chapter who works in public relations, said he wrote the letter to Goodman after being informed of the council’s Nov. 7 vote.

“It was just something I wanted to say to the City Council, so they would think about it next time,” LaPoint, 26, said Wednesday. “I think this blatantly overlooks the minority voices in the community.”

Kay Schenk of Costa Mesa, president of the Orange County chapter of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, agreed.

“We believe this is promoting the Bible and its associated religions,” said Schenk, who is a Christian. “Our objection is not on religious grounds but on constitutional grounds. Mixing politics and religion is a very dangerous idea.”

For its part, the ACLU’s national organization has taken no stand on National Bible Week, nor has the group’s Southern California affiliate, said a spokesman.

“Quite frankly, I wish that letter had never been sent out,” said Sam Mistrano, the legislative director of the ACLU of Southern California. “I would never waste my time over something like this.”

Nancy Phelps of Corona del Mar, a board member of the county’s 2,300-member chapter, said the group had not taken a stand on it, and LaPoint had no authority to write the letter on ACLU stationery.

“Kevin certainly has the freedom to express his own opinion, but the letter is strictly his opinion,” Phelps said.

Councilman Eddie Rose last month sent a letter to local newspapers protesting the Simpson verdict in language many considered racist. The council condemned the letter but stopped short of censuring him. A new policy restricting the use of city stationery was adopted.