Council has moment to reflect
Many have taken issue with prayers of invocation at the start of town council meetings. For those who cherish the concept of the "Separation of Church and State", this becomes even more troublesome when just prayers of mainstream faiths (dominated by Christian ones) are welcome. In the USA, debates in small towns often degenerate into shouting matches, egged on by outside agitators. But a town in British Columbia CA has come up with a reasoned solution to this problem:
...Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims and Sikhs could all offer their thoughts and blessings to Maple Ridge council, as politicians continued their plan to invite all groups to start council meetings on a spiritual note.
The town is granting a period of time "and reflection" for a list to be generated documenting the varied faiths around their community. Not only that, the invoking prayer has now been modified, to become a "moment of reflection" to allow readings and other expressions which don't quite fit in the definition of "prayer". What's quite exceptional about the town council of Maple Ridge, is that they are even extending a hand to less established faiths:
...The invitation would include groups that don’t have established locations to practice their faith...
That seems wonderfully inclusive of the non-mainstream!
1 comment:
"The invitation would include groups that don’t have established locations to practice their faith"
How wonderful. I was afraid for a moment that this post would be going in a different direction. There are too many organizations (governmental and otherwise) that tout their "inclusiveness" while actively excluding those who do not practice a "real religion".
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