SKOWHEGAN — Selectmen voted Tuesday to proclaim April 6 Falun Dafa Day, after debating whether the meditation society is a religion and whether a yes vote would violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
The vote was 3 to 2, with Selectmen Harvey Austin and David Summers dissenting. Selectmen Lynda Quinn, Davida Barter and Pamela Hatch supported the proclamation.
Nancy Ortega, of Palmyra, a practitioner of Falun Dafa, said she sought the town-board proclamation as a way of drawing attention to a growing worldwide movement that is being persecuted in China.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice that urges practitioners to align themselves with truth, forbearance and compassion through a series of five movement and breathing exercises and meditation.
It was founded in 1992 in China and is now practiced around the globe, said Ortega, who runs a psychotherapy practice in St. Albans.
Selectman Summers objected to the idea of a Falun Dafa Day proclamation, saying it amounted to an endorsement of one religion.
Christian churches, Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques had not come to the five-member Board of Selectmen seeking similar proclamations, he said.
Summers argued that a yes vote on the Falun Dafa resolution would "give preference to one faith" and be a violation of the church-state separation.
"What happens if Satanists or white supremacists ask" for similar treatment? he asked. "We'd have no choice but to support them."
Ortega, however, insisted that Falun Dafa is not a religion. It has no hierarchy, no priests, no tithes and no houses of worship, she said.
Selectman Austin agreed with Summers, saying, "I have no desire to get involved in it."
Selectmen issue proclamations periodically, usually proclaiming History Week in February, Constitution Week in September and Poppy Days during summer.
Ortega said she asked eight towns to support the group with proclamations. Bangor, Brewer, and Dover-Foxcroft declined, she said, adding that she is waiting to hear from others.
Also during the meeting Tuesday, selectmen authorized:
Finance Director Diane Barnes to spend up to $7,000 in reserve funds to buy four computers for the Police Department, finance office, economic development office, and assessor's office. Barnes will seek price quotes and negotiate the best deal.
Use of $3,000 to repair the air-handling system at the Community Center. Recreation Director John Malek said the system is 11 years old, and one repair has led to another. Total price tag for the repairs is $4,000, with the rest coming out of the maintenance account.
Use of $3,500 to purchase a new wastewater sampler for the town's sewage-treatment plant to replace an 11-year-old unit that no longer works and can't be repaired.