Torbay Council Prayers Criticised

[Kevin]

Torbay Council has been criticised for its policy of having Christian Prayers said at the beginning of every Council Meeting.

Two independent members from the Standards Committee observed a full Council meeting and, along with noting that half of the councilors were not paying attention to a presentation by a representative of the Care Trust, expressed concerns over the saying of Prayers. The chairman of the standards committee, Roger Heath,said: "That was the first time we had attended a council meeting and we were clearly disappointed."

The observers found that all full meetings opened with prayers, usually conducted by the chaplain of the Council chairman. Mr Heath stated "The form of prayer may be inappropriate to members of the public of other religions and may be considered to be contrary to equality and diversity considerations. The reason for prayers at the commencement does not appear clear and the rationale should be reconsidered."
However, Councilor Steve Darling, leader of the Liberal Democrat minority group, defended Prayers saying:"... it is political correctness gone mad to comment on it."

Whether it is 'PC gone mad' and best not to mention may not be down to Councilor Darling.

Torbay Council has now received a letter from National Secular Society lawyers stating that Christian Prayers before meetings breach equalities legislation and dissuade non-Christians from becoming involved with the democratic process. Torbay can't even argue they didn't know, as their own Equalities working party advised that Prayers should be dropped 5 years ago. The NSS is now preparing a test case against one particular Council, so the tactic of 'let's hope people stop talking about it' is unlikely to work.

The three questions that may be worth asking are: Is it right to have Prayers before Council Meetings? Is it legal to have Prayers before Meetings? Bearing in mind probable legal fees and compensation payments, how much Council Tax - collected from people of all faiths and none - is Torbay Council willing to spend to defend its current position?

[zarkwon]

Great piece you wrote about this Kevin. http://www.humanistlife.org.uk/2010/04/ ... ture-2010/

[Kevin]

A prominent Jewish businessman in Torbay has said that those who object to prayers as part of town’s Council meetings “should go and live somewhere else”.

Ernest Freed, who is a Freeman of the Borough, was supporting the decision of Council chairman Matthew Phillips who rejected a call from a member of the public to end prayers.

Mr Freed said: "I am amazed that in a Christian country apologies have to be made when a council conducts religious activities. If someone who lives in this country doesn't like Christian ways, they should go and live somewhere else. I don’t know why British people should have to apologise for their way of life. I am pleased to see the council is to carry on as normal. About 10 years ago I was asked to stand in when someone could not make the meeting, and I conducted prayers in English and Hebrew. It was very well received."

Richard Ryl, a baptised Polish Lutheran from Brixham, had asked the Council why prayers were still held after watchdogs had questioned the appropriateness of the tradition. Cllr Phillips rejected any suggestion of change while he is chairman, and said it was up to other councillors how they responded to prayers. He said freedom to practise religion was one of the basic tenets of a free society and there was nothing that forced councillors or officers to remain for prayers. Mr Ryl said: “I am just asking for modernisation. I am not anti-religion.”

The Devon Humanist Group responded by saying: “The inference is that ‘outsiders’ or ‘foreigners’ are responsible for questioning the dominance of the Christian faith in the Council Chamber. This does need to be challenged. It is local people who feel that the insistence on prayers is a barrier to involvement in our democracy. We all pay for the Council, so we should all feel that the Council represents us equally.

“Around half of Torbay’s population are not Christians. We are a society of many faiths and — increasingly — of no religion at all. Indeed, some local Christians are uneasy about such a close relationship between councillors and the established church. Some of us believe that anything that contributes to an impression that local government is centred around a particular gender, age, ethnicity, social class or faith should be challenged.

“This isn’t about banning or rejecting Christianity, but in embracing all beliefs across our community. We would object just as strongly if it were prayers from a faith other than Christianity, or if there were a dominant party political ritual. There have been councils where they sang the Red Flag before meetings, for example.

“Understandably, there will be some who resent how Torbay is changing. They may also react with hostility, hurt and bemusement when asked to give up a privilege they have held for many years. But times move on. The Bay is no longer the setting of an Agatha Christie novel – which incidentally also displayed a fear of change.”

“Suggesting that non-Christians should keep quiet or leave the Bay will not help to achieve harmony among those faiths and beliefs that we should be proud to have represented in our three towns. To their credit, local inter-faith groups have a compromise solution that works well. They have a few minutes undirected silence where all faiths and beliefs can pray if they so wish, or just gather their thoughts.

“Is such a level playing field for all not a reasonable way forward? Or will some councillors continue to deny the reality of our modern Torbay, until perhaps compelled to do so by the current action in the High Court?”