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Challenge To Town Council Invocations Moves To Britain

By Howard M. Friedman

The challenge to prayers prior to city council meetings, quite common in the U.S., has now made its way to Britain. Today's London Daily Mail reports that the National Secular Society (NSS) is filing a test suit against the Bideford Town Council, in North Devon. The suit claims that opening town council sessions with Christian prayer violates Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights that protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion. A Daily Mail survey of 181 large town councils in England and Wales shows that 118 start their sessions with prayer-- almost all with Christian prayer. However the nature and formality of the invocations vary widely. The City of London opens its session with merely a 3-word Latin invocation--Domine Dirige Nos - meaning 'Lord guide us'. Commenting on the new lawsuit, the executive director of NSS suggested that if Bideford Town Council members want to pray, they should do so in another room before the council meeting begins. Some religious groups characterize the lawsuit as an attack on Britain's Christian heritage by "aggressive atheists."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).