The Prayers of the People

I took this title from a section of the liturgy in the Anglican Church of Canada’s Book of Alternative Services.  It seems a fitting description for controversy over public officials praying in public.

When a friend sent me the link to the news story about the Supreme Court denying the right of the Mayor and Council of Saguenay to recite a prayer before council meetings, I was honestly surprised that municipal councils in Quebec were even saying prayers in the first place.  I thought it was one of those things that disappeared with the Quiet Revolution.  The practice isn’t even observed in many Ontario municipalities anymore either.  As a news reporter from 2005 to 2010, I covered meetings of 15 municipal councils across the province.  The Lord’s Prayer/Our Father was only said at the meetings of five of those councils.  The rest observed a moment of silent reflection or had no such moment of spiritual observance at all.  Some of these councils were also composed of a majority of observant Christians.  I completely understand why a prayer would be said at the commencement of a municipal council meeting.  Our rule of law and legal tradition in Canada is derived from the Christian tradition.  Believers in any faith generally want to do what is right according to their beliefs and seek guidance from God to do so.  Saying a prayer is the most common way to do that.  However, we need to ask if that prayer is even being said with conviction.  Or is it just a formality on the meeting agenda?  What good is it to pray if one does not believe or have faith anyway?  I’ve been to council meetings where a prayer was said at the beginning but some of the behaviour that followed did not at all reflect what was said by the council members in the prayer.   Members of council and staff who are religious most likely pray for the well-being of their communities anyway, whether it is as individuals or during church worship.

Some Christians feel threatened by other faiths.  I’ve often heard people exclaim that Muslims are out to destroy Christianity in Canada, and efforts to banish prayer in public are an example of that.  Faiths other than Christianity however are not the threat here.  The initial human rights challenge in Saguenay was not launched by a Muslim or a person of any faith at all.  It was launched by a strong atheist and secularist.  It is this element that is most threatening to Christianity or the observance of any other faith.  This movement is zealous in its belief in unbelief.  They have an evangelistic conviction that most churches only wish they could attain.  The Saguenay story is an example of how many Christian individuals and organizations have estimated their adversary incorrectly.  Yes, there are radical Muslims who don’t like Christians, but there are radical elements in any faith.  Extremism, in any form is dangerous and does not usually represent the best of any cause.  Extremist Christians distort and debase the teachings of Christ and the Bible just as much as radical Muslims weaken the Koran.  The militancy of some secularists and atheists also turns their cause into complete anachronism.  Why do they believe so strongly in believing in nothing?