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Merged Prayers Banned in Devon Council Meetings!

Now if we can only get the POTUS to stop saying 'God bless America'.
 
This could have nationwide implications. I'm listening to Radio 5 Live and already they have had two representatives from god-bothering organizations protesting about the judgement. The UK is a multicultural secular country. About half of local councils begin their meetings with a prayer. Why should local council meetings begin with toadying to the Christian sky daddy? Religious councilors can have a little pray before the meeting begins.
 
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Who would you suggest they toady to? These are civil servants, remember...they're designed to toady to someone.
 
Evolved Wookie said:
Who would you suggest they toady to? These are civil servants, remember...they're designed to toady to someone.
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No, they are elected local councilors, not part of the Civil Service. Maybe they should toady to the people who elected them.
 
Today, removing prayers from the agenda of a town council meeting. Tomorrow, removal of the unelected bishops in the House of Lords - well, maybe not actually tomorrow, but it surely must come... and not before time! There should be no place for any religion in government!
 
FG10 said:
Today, removing prayers from the agenda of a town council meeting. Tomorrow, removal of the unelected bishops in the House of Lords - well, maybe not actually tomorrow, but it surely must come... and not before time! There should be no place for any religion in government!
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Onwards and upwards!
 
Ouseley said: "A local authority has no powers under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 to hold prayers as part of a formal local authority meeting or to summon councillors to such a meeting at which prayers are on the agenda.
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And yet...had someone suggested, back in 1972, that this would have been the end result, one thinks the law and it's proponents would have been tossed out on their ass at the next election.


Hmmm. Laws's meanings change...because the way people, and politicians pandering to them, feel about the laws change.


Nope! Don't see any problems with that!

Forge ahead, humanity!
 
Eric Pickles (who reminds me of so much of Eric Cartman) said that it was a bad ruling and suggested that a bit of a pray was exactly the thing needed to foster a sense of community.

The god botherers on the radio said that this was the start of a slippery slope which would end with God Save The Queen and the diamond jubilee being banned.

I wonder if they'd be quite so enthusiastic if some Muslims insisted that Christians do a bit of praying to Allah prior to opening proceedings at a Tower Hamlets council meeting.
 
The Don said:
The god botherers on the radio said that this was the start of a slippery slope which would end with God Save The Queen and the diamond jubilee being banned.
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So they're also agreeing with the ruling?
 
The Don said:
1) Eric Pickles (who reminds me of so much of Eric Cartman) said that it was a bad ruling and suggested that a bit of a pray was exactly the thing needed to foster a sense of community.

2)The god botherers on the radio said that this was the start of a slippery slope which would end with God Save The Queen and the diamond jubilee being banned.

3) I wonder if they'd be quite so enthusiastic if some Muslims insisted that Christians do a bit of praying to Allah prior to opening proceedings at a Tower Hamlets council meeting.
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Apologies for editing your post, but it was easier to answer that way.

1) Pickle nonsense

2) I read somewhere that councils still should pledge allegiance to the country's figurehead, the country etc. as per protocol. but not to a Gord.

3) Indeed, thus point 2) is of even more importance.



I am all for the judgement and hope it spreads further afield – the Lords and Parliament, school assemblies, faith schools and so on
 
The Don said:
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I wonder if they'd be quite so enthusiastic if some Muslims insisted that Christians do a bit of praying to Allah prior to opening proceedings at a Tower Hamlets council meeting.
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All what that would take is if a Jew or a Muslim was in charge of the prayers. Or better still a Hindu!
 
I was staggered to learn that any councils were still doing prayers at meetings.
 
The Don said:
Eric Pickles (who reminds me of so much of Eric Cartman) said that it was a bad ruling and suggested that a bit of a pray was exactly the thing needed to foster a sense of community.

The god botherers on the radio said that this was the start of a slippery slope which would end with God Save The Queen and the diamond jubilee being banned.

I wonder if they'd be quite so enthusiastic if some Muslims insisted that Christians do a bit of praying to Allah prior to opening proceedings at a Tower Hamlets council meeting.
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What I heard from Mr Pickles (BBC radio-5) is that he is now trying to put a new "bill" through the House of Commons to change the law so that councils will be able to continue praying as the first item on their Council Agenda Sheet ... and he says that he hopes to do that very quickly, apparently within a few weeks.

By the way, as I said above - this is apparently not something which precedes the meeting, it is actually being insisted upon as the first item on the agenda ... so that it cannot be done outside or before the meeting begins ... ie the Christian members of the council are insisting that prayers must be a formal opening to the agenda within the meeting itself.

However, what I found the most disingenuous aspect of the religious argument here, is that the Christian defenders in this case are saying that non-religious and non-Christian members can simply sit there without joining in the praying. Well, they could do that ... but that is not an equivalent analogy ...

... the equivalent analogy would be for non-Christian and non-religious members of the council to insist that they too must read out their own prayers and/or their own statements on religion at the start of each meeting. So after the Christian prayers, the Muslim members then give their prayers or read some verse from the Koran, and then the atheist members read out something which entirely contradicts any idea of Gods and prayers. All of which of course just shows the absurd irrelevance of anyone reading any religious prayers in the first place.
 
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The new legislation which pickles suggests is just commencement of the general power of competence in the 2011 localism act. This gives councils the powers of a natural person. Currently concils can only do those things which they are explicitly empowered to do (which is why Berriana's analysis of the situation is nonsence, but what did we expect?). The GPC allows councils to do anything except those things they have been prohibited from doing. There is no explicit prohibition on putting a prayer on the council agenda.
 
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