We don't think religious worship should play any part in the formal business of the state.
We want to see parliamentary and local government meetings conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all attendees, whatever their personal beliefs.
Parliamentary prayers
Sittings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords begin with Anglican prayers. MPs and peers stand for prayers facing the wall behind them – a practice thought to have developed due to the difficulty members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray while wearing a sword.
When the chamber is at its busiest, parliamentary prayers act as a bizarre and antiquated seat reservation system. Even MPs and peers who are slated to speak have no option but to attend prayers in order to reserve a seat.
Whilst they may be viewed by some as an important tradition, parliamentary prayers serve to assert the superiority of Christianity (and the Church of England in particular) at Westminster. This 'tradition' is inimical to a modern, pluralistic, secular democracy.
In the Scottish Parliament, Tuesday afternoon sessions begin with 'Time for Reflection', with faith and belief representatives invited to addresses members for up to four minutes. The Northern Ireland Assembly begins formal business with a period of two minutes of silent prayer or contemplation. The Welsh Assembly has adopted no such rituals.
Parliamentarians who wish to pray are free to do so. But prayers should not form part of the official business of Parliament.
Council prayers
Many local authorities in Britain also begin their meetings with prayer.
Local democracy should be equally welcoming to all sections of society, regardless of their religion or belief. Council meetings should be conducted without anyone feeling excluded, or compelled to either participate in prayers or absent themselves from part of the meeting.
Council prayers open the door to wholly unnecessary conflict and sectarian squabbles within local authorities. There is a history of local councillors being bullied and marginalised for challenging council prayers.
The absence of prayers from the formal business of meetings in no way impedes religious freedoms or denies anybody the right to pray. Conversely, organised worship in secular settings imposes worship on those who do not share the faith. A genuine commitment to freedom of religion or belief is incompatible with including acts of worship in the formal business of council meetings.
If local authorities wish to hold a moment of silent reflection at the beginning of a meeting, or if councillors wish to meet for prayers prior to the meeting, they are at liberty to do so.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please enter your postcode and urge your MP to support an alternative to parliamentary prayers, to make parliament more welcoming to people of all faiths and none.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue - for example, if you would like to challenge prayers at your own council.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Four NI councils hold prayers before meetings
Posted: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 18:02
Four of Northern Ireland's 11 councils still hear prayers before their monthly meetings, according to information released by the Belfast Telegraph.
The revelation comes after a motion to replace council prayers with a period of 'silent reflection' at Ards and North Down Borough Council's meetings was defeated in a committee this week.
The other three councils to hold prayers are Castlereagh Borough and Lisburn City Council, Causeway Coast and Glens Council and Antrim and Newtownabbey Council.
Councils such as Mid and East Antrim do not hear a prayer or scripture reading before business. In Belfast council policy is that the Lord Mayor may read a short passage from the scriptures at the start of each meeting. Nuala McAllister, the current Lord Mayor and first citizen who recently held her inauguration dinner without inviting anyone to say grace, has chosen not to do a reading.
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Corporate Committee in Ards and North Down, Councillor John Barry of the Green party proposed replacing council prayers with a period of 'silent reflection'. The committee voted it down by ten votes to three. A final decision on the proposal will be taken at a meeting of the full council on 29 November.
Councillor Barry said "no strong arguments" had been made for continuing the current practice. "What we had were that 'majority rules' and the fact that it was 'traditional practice' as the reasons."
He added that his motivation had been questioned and he had faced personal smears in response to his proposal. "There was an attempt to deflect completely from the issue by personalising the debate, to deflect from addressing the issue.
"The motivation behind the notice of motion was secularism and democracy, not atheism and anti-Christianity – despite the disgraceful attempts by some members in the debate to suggest the opposite.
"I was accused of hypocrisy while my party was associated with authoritarian communism… I suppose this is to be expected of those bereft of strong arguments."
During the debate the councillor told his colleagues that his measure was "a threat to no-one" and said if their faith was strong they would "not need the support of the state".
"But perhaps for some equality is experienced as a loss, a taken-for-granted traditional experience of privilege that is now threatened.
"As I said in the debate when I asked those of a faith belief to ask themselves: is my Christian faith dependent upon the state and the inclusion of my religious views via state power? Is my faith not strong enough to thrive, live and sing in a moment's silent reflection?"
Ards and North Down mayor Robert Adair was among those to criticise the motion, which he described as an "attack by the Green Party on Christianity".
The National Secular Society campaigns for prayers to be separated from official council business. In 2012 the High Court ruled that saying prayers in council time was unlawful. The ruling applied to councils in England and Wales, though in 2015 the Government responded by changing the law in England. The ruling does not apply in Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for the NSS said: "It is encouraging that most of Northern Ireland's councils do not hold prayers before meetings. Councils shouldn't be cosy clubs for people from a particular faith denomination. But the evidence from Ards and North Down this week is disheartening. The four councils which retain prayers before meetings need to be held to account for defending indefensible vestiges of religious privilege."
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Councillor proposes silent reflection in place of council prayers
Posted: Mon, 6 Nov 2017 16:44
A councillor in Ards and North Down, in Northern Ireland, has proposed replacing religious prayers at council meetings with a moment of silent reflection.
Councillor John Barry of the Green party will table a motion at Ards and North Down council's meeting on 14 November (full text below). If the council passes it, a period of reflective silence will sit outside official council business.
Currently a prayer is the first item on the agenda of each monthly council meeting.
"It is an official council prayer that is usually set by the chief executive," Cllr Barry said. "The last two mayors have also introduced a tradition of Bible readings. I have no issues with people wanting to have a moment's reflection or commune with their god but it has no business being part of the official agenda.
"Religious prayers at the start of council meetings do not promote inclusivity and aren't conducive to a welcoming atmosphere for people of no faith or people who are not of a Christian faith.
"We propose instead that moment of silent reflection as an alternative to the current practice. This moment of reflection would allow for the inclusion of any religious, spiritual or ethical dimension for each person at the start of the meeting.
"This is not an attack on Christianity. This is about separation of church and state. It is about the removal of any religious connotation as an official part of council business."
Cllr Barry's motion says "expressions of one particular religion are not inclusive of those of different religions and beliefs, are not necessary for the conduct of council business, and are unrepresentative of the Ards and North Down Borough and its diverse communities".
The National Secular Society campaigns for prayers to be separated from official council business. In 2012 the High Court ruled that saying prayers in council time was unlawful. The ruling applied to councils in England and Wales, though in 2015 the Government responded by changing the law in England.
NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans said passing Councillor Barry's motion would be "a positive move".
"A council meeting isn't a religious meeting and shouldn't feel like one. Councillors should be free to get on with the business for which they have been elected, without having other people's religious beliefs and practices imposed on them. The council should pass the motion and others should follow suit.
"Keeping prayer out of council business in no way prevents religious councillors from praying for guidance before meetings if they choose."
Robert Adair, the Mayor of Ards and North Down, said he would oppose the motion. "I just feel it is an attack by the Green Party on Christianity and Christian values," he said.
Councillor Barry's proposal comes shortly after Belfast's new Lord Mayor, Nuala McAllister, attracted headlines by not asking anyone to say grace at her installation dinner in September. The NSS expressed support for her decision.
The full text of the motion is as follows:
"That this Council, while recognising the importance that religion plays for many people, believes that religious prayers should not form part of the official agenda of a council meeting. Such expressions of one particular religion are not inclusive of those of different religions and beliefs, are not necessary for the conduct of council business, and are unrepresentative of the Ards and North Down Borough and its diverse communities. A moment of silent reflection at the start of council meetings could instead be considered as a more appropriate way to allow for the inclusion of any religious, spiritual, or ethical dimension."
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