I am fairly new in the Shoalhaven LGA and I respect all people within the area. I'm a little concerned with one of the first motions passed in Council on 25th January 2022, to get rid of the 'Lord's Prayer' for the opening of Council meetings. for this new term of Council. Yes, I understand it is replaced with one minute of silence for each individual. One minute silence is usually used to remember someone famous who passed away recently, mostly used in sporting events and other events.
To take away the right of people who would like to pray 'The Lord's Prayer', is just not right. Also, I understand this prayer is used in State & Federal Governments.
If Councilors, do not want to pray the 'Lord's Prayer', it would be better to leave the Chambers and come back when completed. I've been to other Council meetings, within Sydney and it was a blessing to start the Council meeting with that prayer. They obviously don't need any blessing.
The next thing is, is to remove the National Anthem for Australian and our Indigenous peoples from Council! Something should be done about it. I may be in the minority here but I feel traditions should be kept not swept away!
The Lord's prayer (one version:)
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.
You wish to listen to the webcast here for that motion:
Hi John: respectfully, I think you are wrong on this. A prayer has no place in government meetings. Religion has no place in these meetings. We must have clear separation of church and state, and prayers like this are crossing that line. We live in a multicultural society where everyone should be welcome to participate, and government needs to be agnostic of divisive policies and procedures. A Christian prayer on these meetings is divisive; if it takes place then time should also be allocated for a Jewish prayer, a Muslim prayer, a Buddhist prayer; and what do Atheists councilors do while others are praying. I am happy the council has done this mate, if people who hold Christian believes want to pray they can do it before the meetings, on their own time, and out of the meeting agenda. Not during council formal meetings. I think the minute silence is a good way to provide a respectful way for those people to pray in their own heads and in silence if that's their prerogative. I believe this strongly, and I am not alone in this. We have voted a new council in, because we wanted to get rid of the old council practices and inaction (eg. environment, homelessness, lack of housing, etc). This is one of the practices we wanted to get rid of. I do respect your opinion but I dont share it, we live in a democracy, the council was voted by the people, and it is representing the will of the people now. Please respect the will of the people who elected them. It has nothing to do with the National Anthem or removing the Acknowledgement of Country at meetings. Those ceremonial processes are uniting processes, we are ALL Australians, we all live in First Nations land and must pay our respects. Hugs, Raul
ReplyDeleteI agree with that I haven't looked at other religions as Raul explained. Yes people can pray at home, religious churches, places of worship, temples and mosques prior to the Council meeting, if they wish to do so. At least, if the Council doesn't replace the Lord's Prayer, there is that one minute of reflection of thoughts on the job that is required to be done, to benefit the community as a whole. Yes we have people from all different background and when the Lord's Prayer was previously introduced into Council, in the old days population and background of people have changed. I'm happy to go with the flow!
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