Last spring a local minister in Benicia, California asked Mayor Marilyn O'Rourke to issue a Bible-reading proclamation in that city. She ignored the request. Then, Richard W. Shafer, a born-again city councilman in Benicia, brought the measure to a vote o f the City Council. It passed 3-2. However, Mayor O'Rourke opposed the move because it violated the First Amendment's prohibition against the establishment of religion by government.

Pastor Cameron W. Wilson of the Calvary Community Church favors the Bible proclamation. He said the issue is about "trying to win the country back to the way it was," adding, "Jewish organizations" have been hurting Christians by challenging practices lik e prayer in schools and religious symbols on public property. "They're beginning to bruise us badly," Wilson said. "If they continue they can only expect to generate a backlash by people around the world against Jews." Mayor O'Rourke is Jewish.