Adam Pritchett is the mayor-elect of New York City in An Advent for Religious Liberty: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel by Ray Keating. Here's Chapter Two from that thriller, which makes clear Pritchett's intentions regarding his attacks on religious liberty.
Chapter 2
After a brief hesitation, Maureen
Donahue accepted Mayor-elect Pritchett’s offer to become his press secretary
for the transition team and for the Pritchett administration when it took
office on January 1.
She clearly was pleased when Pritchett
said, “Maureen, now that the campaign is over, I’m going to be communicating
with the media more directly.” He added, “Let’s call a press conference for this
coming Monday. I’ll be announcing my first appointments.”
So, less than a week after his
historic victory, Mayor-elect Adam Pritchett stood before a throng of
television, newspaper, Internet, radio and magazine reporters in the lobby of
the audacious Pritchett Building on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan.
Pritchett introduced three of his five
deputy mayors, and his chief policy advisor.
Pritchett’s selection to be deputy mayor
for economic development was Dean Havenport. He had been with Pritchett for
many years as the city government liaison with Pritchett NYC Enterprises, Inc.
Another longtime employee and close advisor on political and personal
donations, Carter Dujas, was made Pritchett’s chief policy advisor.
But once the floor was opened to
questions from the press, which had never happened before with Pritchett, it
was all about his campaign night declarations on religion and the public life
of the city.
Pritchett did not seem to be overly
bothered by the questions, but he attempted several times to bring the focus
back to his appointments. The press, sensing an opportunity to hurt this
politician who ignored them throughout his run for office, failed to relent.
A New
York Post columnist inquired, “Mayor-elect Pritchett, didn’t your comments
on Election Night, in effect, tell people of faith to take a hike, that there
was no place for them in your administration or even in the life of New York
City?”
The controlled anger seen on the
previous Tuesday night reappeared on Pritchett’s face. “Okay, if this is how
it’s going to go, fine. My comments on Tuesday night were not meant to exclude
anyone from my effort to turn this city around, or to exclude anyone from
contributing positively to the energy and life of our city. What it was meant
to do was make clear that religion should not be a part of those efforts and should
not be in the public life of our city in general. I believe in a very strict
separation of church and state, and have seen little of value come out of
religion. If you believe in some Supreme Being or force, that’s your business.
You obviously have that right, but keep it as your private business. There’s no
justification for it to be in our political and public lives.”
That generated tremendous buzz among
the assembled press corps, whose hands shot in the air, with many members
calling out Pritchett’s name and title to get his attention. Standing behind
Pritchett, Havenport looked non-phased, even uninterested, in the current
flurry of activity. Meanwhile, Dujas positively beamed. As for Donahue, she
couldn’t hide her discomfort.
Pritchett faced the shouts, flashes
and cameras with his anger replaced by a calm delight. He was even smiling as
he selected a New York Times
reporter.
She asked, “Mayor-elect Pritchett,
what about religious groups involved in helping to provide various social
services, help for the homeless, education, and health care to those in need in
the city?”
Pritchett replied, “To the extent that
those services are supplied in partnership with city government, or if city
funds are involved, those efforts will be re-evaluated by my administration.”
That
declaration created an even louder response among the media, and a bigger smile
from Carter Dujas.
