In the little town of Bideford, England, site of the last witch trials in Britain, a movement has been started to abolish Christian prayers at public meetings. Maybe the locals should have anticipated complications when they saw that their town council is made up of not only pagans, staunch atheists and an agnostic former stripper, but also two evangelical Christians and a Methodist church organist. They probably wouldn’t have been able to anticipate their complications leading to an all out national proxy fight.
As the Republican primaries in the US highlight the separation of church and state, Britain finds itself in a national debate over religion involving the people, the government and even Queen Elizabeth II. This movement was started by local atheist lawmaker Clive Bone challenged the long-standing tradition of opening public meetings with blessings by locally Christian clergy men. Bone would eventually take the town to court winning a ruling that set legal precedent saying the government had no authority to compel its citizens to sit through a prayer.
The Conservative-led government quickly attempted to counteract the ban and defend the status of the Church of England. At a time when half of Britain claims no relgious affiliation, the Conservatives are blaming a loss of “traditional values’ on binge drinking and last year’s riots in London. The Conservatives have begun to unleash moves to gain back lost ground for Christian tradition. The Queen has began to engage in the monarch’s historic role as “defender of the faith”.
As the Prime Minister begins to approve of same sex marriages, Christians are saying that their traditions are under assault. However, for the time being, public prayers are on hold for the first time since the Nazis’ Blitz of England in 1941.
This issue was bound to come to public attention sooner or later. It is interesting that it appears around the same time as the Republicans in the US are dealing with the same issue through their primaries. I do not think this issue will be solved easily and it may take more rulings by courts, and even some rulings by parliament, the Prime Minister or the Queen, before any agreements can be made.
Want to read the whole thing?: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-secular-britain-a-clash-over-public-prayer/2012/03/08/gIQAcyQ3zR_story_1.html
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