THE PREVIOUS Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey has stepped in to defend the act of prayer at the beginning of council meetings, after Mr Justice Ouseley declared there was no ‘lawful’ place for prayer during formal meetings. He made the observation after a one time councillor in Devon sought a legal challenge against the tradition of prayers before council meetings. The former councillor was supported by the National Secular Society (NSS) in his action.
Now, I am an atheist, but not an intolerant one, unlike, Clive Bone, the ex-councillor in question, or the NSS. I find it incomprehensible that this simple ritual based upon tradition should be objected to, let alone attacked in the hope of seeking its demise. It does no harm to anyone; no one is stoned as part of the ritual; no one is forced to partake; and no one is condemned for not standing in prayer. There are no puritan sermons to sit through; just a simple prayer representing this country’s religious faith which has been in existence for 2,000 years.
I may be an atheist, but I am also a traditionalist who believes that our customs and conventions have helped knit together this countries social fabric for centuries; and I believe any society needs such cement in order for it not to wither away.
Like the Monarchy for instance (if I might be diverted temporally from my main subject); I believe that a constitutional monarchy is by far the best system of democratic governance. But I have no unqualified obedience to the institution. What I tend to think is, that if we have a monarch on the throne like our present one then I support the monarchy. I doubt however, that I will be so eager to support the next incumbent. To me the monarchy is about much more than the institution itself, but also about the qualities of the reigning monarch.
NOW, BACK TO the attempt to remove prayer from the council chamber. I bitterly resent, first of all, a judge determining the legalities of this issue. It is for Parliament to make our laws, and for judges to implement them. Now, Justice Ouseley may or may not be correct in his verdict. My point is, that it is up to our elected representative to decide upon such issues.
Our judges today have too much power; and if they are to continue to be allowed use of it, then we the people must decide who sits as a judge via the ballot box. Our judges are taking too much upon themselves, because our lawmakers have allowed them to so do.
Almost every day our judges are making decisions that we elect our politicians to make. They have become a the third chamber, also unelected, like the second…while the first defers to the European Court of Human Rights.
But If Clive Bone and the NSS wish to take us down this road then they had better be prepared for the consequences, in the form Islam. For that dreary, supine institution known as the modern Anglican Church, under the care of its present incumbent, will no doubt prove easy prey for the secularists.
But we are now a multicultural society with different and divergent faiths, which may disagree theologically with the other; but would nevertheless unite against Clive Bone and the NSS.
Mr Bone has found an easy target in modern Anglicanism, but he may come to regret what he has helped unleash, if what he seeks, happens. For it will be seen as an attack on religious faith as a whole, which he may find disconcerting considering the particular ferocity displayed by Islam in the modern world.
THERE IS LITTLE to be accomplished by an atheist, like myself, by seeking to ban prayers from council meetings. It rings of banning smoking from pubs, a prohibition that may have well started this latest stupidity.
But let Mr Bone have his 15 minutes of fame. His juvenile endeavours have caused an insipid Anglican Church to sit up and listen, and demand why Rowan Williams has not taken a stance on this issue?
Christianity is not just part of, but has shaped the whole of the UK’s moral ascendancy toward civilisation and power in the world.
Prayer is a wholly passive construct and as such should not face any kind of disapproval of the kind that Mr Bone seeks to ferment. In whatever context it is used; whether in church, cathedral, or within a parliamentary or council chamber, it is a mere gesture which is, in any case, not compulsory. So why should Mr Bone and the NSS wish to see it removed?
It can only be vindictiveness on Mr Bone’s behalf, coupled with intolerance on the NSS’s. They make a perfect team; their bigoted attitude toward what for many is a simple pause for reflection that gives them hope where they can find very little in the world occupied by the NSS.
As an atheist, I would sooner share my seat on a long train journey, with a good Christian churchgoer, than someone whose views I may share, but whose narrow mindedness would prove torturous for me on such a journey, and drive me to seek out the bar steward if they still have them on trains.
Prayers in council chambers must be kept from the bigoted grasp of the secularist and the overweening power of unelected judges.
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