Citizen Columns
Question
Do you think Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is right to ban the Lord’s Prayer from the beginning of the legislature each day? Should there be a moment of silence so everyone can say the prayers of their own faith instead?”
Answer
Yes, McGuinty is right. A moment of silence is much to be preferred. Although the debate has mostly centred on the legislature’s need to reflect the religious diversity of Ontario, it’s more important to have integrity about public prayer itself. Of course our tradition of Roman law is not strong on this point. As the ancient Romans saw it, a public prayer was simply a sign of allegiance to the history and tradition of Rome, and no personal belief was required. This is what made the early Christian refusal to say a prayer to the deified emperor such an affront to Roman sensibilities. Romans in good conscience could say the prayer without actually meaning it. Christians couldn’t, and were willing to be put to death for this. The Roman authorities found the Christian refusal perplexing and criminally stubborn.
The divorce of words and meanings persists. How many people in and out of the legislature would be quite comfortable saying words (including prayers) they didn’t believe? Christians (and Jews before them) believe that words and their meanings matter, and that we are accountable for our words if trust is to be built, either between human beings, or between human beings and God. As Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matthew 5:37).
There’s no point in reciting a prayer together-even the Lord’s Prayer, even if it’s part of the tradition-if the MPPs don’t mean it. MPPs have too many differing presuppositions to make any prayer truly a common prayer. So neither a non-denominational prayer nor a list of alternating prayers from different faith communities is an honest solution. But whether they are believers or not, I do like the idea of our public leaders slowing down for a moment together and silently reflecting, each in their own way, on the responsibilities, people and decisions that face them.
Father John Jillions
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