by Eric Lane

On May 26, Nick Lee, past president of the Atheist Alliance International, past president of the Freethinkers Association of Central Texas and a board member of the San Antonio Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State for nearly a decade, died. You may not have heard his name before, but he played a critical role in broadening the consciousness, diversity and culture of San Antonio and beyond.

The passing of a life leaves a cavernous hole — but, over time, what remains is the essence of that person’s being, the memories and the ripples of change they left behind.

Nick represented the freethinker, atheist and secular humanist community with such dignity and diplomacy that he counted numerous religious leaders as his friends. He was a member of the Americans United Religious Outreach Committee, and clergy would often ask him to speak to their students or participate in forums or discussions. With sage reason and common sense, he transcended the physical world guided by such a profound love for humanity that anyone who met him left more enlightened and, yes, more civilized.

What Nick represented was the ideal of the founders and what it means to be an American. He respected each person’s right to believe or not believe what their conscience dictated. And he expected the same in return.

In that spirit, on Sept. 13, 2018, about 9:15 a.m. in the City Council chambers — fittingly during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of San Antonio’s founding — a historic event took place.

City Council was called to order. Nick was introduced by Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, who reminded the audience that the council had heard invocations from religious leaders of various faith traditions but not from those who do not belong to any religion or don’t believe in any god. Yet that population makes up almost a quarter of the city’s residents, pays taxes, and should be recognized and treated like all other citizens.

Nick approached the podium. The audience stood silently, respectfully, some with heads bowed. For the first time in the history of the city, a secular humanist delivered the invocation. The oceans did not part. No one was smitten. The sun set and rose again the next day.

In attendance were religious leaders from the community who stood in support. What follows is Nick’s secular invocation filled with gratitude and inclusion:

“Mayor, council members: This morning I do not ask you to bow your heads in prayer. Rather, I draw your attention to the citizens who are gathered here today to do business with the city. They come from different economic circumstances and ethnic backgrounds. Yet they all hope to receive from you an equitable hearing of their concerns.

“And beyond this room, I ask you to remember all 1.5 million people whom you are collectively pledged to serve. Consider the diversity of cultures, economic interests and religious backgrounds which are represented in this community. In terms of religion, this includes not only the many varieties of Christians but also Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, atheists and others. At this point, I draw your attention to the religious leaders who are gathered here this morning in support of this secular invocation.

“These citizens of San Antonio look to each of you to apply wisdom, integrity and rational thinking to the affairs of the city, and to treat all fairly and without favor. As a secular humanist, I believe that we have the power within ourselves to solve life’s problems and challenges through logic, reason, compassion and compromise. As our elected representatives, we trust your decisions today will be based on the common good and with an eye to their impact on all citizens and future generations.

“On behalf of the many atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and secular humanists who live and work in this community and contribute to its prosperity, I thank you for this opportunity to present what I believe to be the first secular invocation in the 300-year history of the city of San Antonio. I hope it will not be the last. Thank you.”

Eric Lane serves as president of the San Antonio Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The ‘Where I Live’ series aims to showcase our beautiful city by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods.  Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special.

When I relocated from Sacramento in 2003, recently single, I began looking for an apartment to rent.  I was astounded to discover Texas had relatively low property values compared to California.  That convinced me it was feasible for me to buy a house.

I explored several neighborhoods around San Antonio.  Three things attracted me to Wildwood One: the proximity to my (then) job on Boerne Stage Road, that it is a pipestem neighborhood (more on that later), and I took a fancy to a particular house in Wildwood.

Situated off Bandera Road just north of Leon Valley, the neighborhood was developed in the mid 1970s as affordable housing for workers at Kelly Field.  Many current residents were the original buyers.  By comparison with average house values in San Antonio, it is still an affordable neighborhood with starter homes for young families.

Out of an exaggerated sense of my handyman abilities, I bought a distressed house that backs against a green space at the very edge of the neighborhood.  That green space is now a part of Leon Creek Greenway Trail, which is accessible from our backyard.  Soon after, I met my wife, Vibeke, and together we began to rehabilitate the house and landscaping.

With a combination of do-it-yourself projects and professional help, all major systems and kitchen appliances have been replaced, windows modernized, and wood flooring laid.  Most recently, we brought in a contractor to tear out a load-bearing wall to combine two rooms for an open floor plan to increase natural lighting, and, later, to modernize the guest bathroom.  We have transformed a house that was frozen in time in the mid-‘70s to an open, comfortable home.

Outdoors, the backyard was a blank slate.  Fortunately, Vibeke is an avid gardener, and she quickly devised a landscaping plan that has evolved over the past sixteen years.  I kept pushing for exotic plants, but after many failures, we have agreed to settle for Texas-hardy vegetation.  A huge deck and covered patio have been added, improving opportunities for outdoor entertaining.

We love the fact we are surrounded by greenery, and Vibeke enjoys the parade of wildlife that creeps into our back yard from the green space after dark, including rabbits, raccoons, porcupines, opossum, armadillos, turtles, and skunks (oh my!).  Occasionally, a deer will jump the fence.  It’s a regular Animal Planet back there!

Likewise, many of the 420 houses in the neighborhood have been remodeled and upgraded from their original design, and there has been some infill of new houses, so the neighborhood is still developing and evolving.  Over the past few years, that has drawn a steady influx of younger families with children.

In my Junior year, the University of Oregon football team ended the season as champions of the PAC-10 Conference, automatically qualifying them for the Rose Bowl.  And so, I went with the U of O Marching Band to Pasadena in January 1958 and marched in the Rose Parade and played in the half­time show. The opponent was Ohio State, who were predicted to squash the Ducks, but our team played credibly, and only lost by a score of 10-7. I have to say, however, that the Ohio State Marching Band won the half-time competition hands down. They had a much larger group and played more professionally and did much more intricate maneuvers than we did.  But, we were there! 

When I came home from work one day and told my family that I had been designated the action officer for the MTMC [Military Traffic Management Command] Health Fair, my kids rolled on the floor in laughter.  This was because of my well-deserved image of a sedentary anti-jock.  On the other hand, I had always enjoyed good general health, and went years between ever seeing a doctor.  I tackled the project like any other staff work, did some research, contacted local not-for-profit health organizations (American Heart, American Lung, Lions Club, etc.), planned related activities (fun run/walk), and worked on the logistics.  There were about 2,000 Federal employees (from MTMC and other agencies) in our building and one across the street, and so I had to "market" the fair with flyers and get our General to invite the other Generals and their staffs. (There is a strict protocol to be observed in all of this.)  The Health Fair was a rousing and popular success, and was held annually for several years after that, following the precedent and "battle book" I left behind.  I later received a Commander's Award from General John Stanford for a silly staff project I did (a "MTMC Values" pamphlet), but it really was for the Health Fair, because [my boss] Bernie Smith realized he had failed to nominate me for that earlier effort.