Even To A Non-Believer, Nonsectarian Prayer Is Nonsense
There’s a controversy brewing in my hometown about the practice of opening city council meetings with a prayer. It began a couple of weeks ago when our vice mayor opened the regular meeting with a prayer that made reference to the son of God. Keep in mind, council meetings around here have always opened with a prayer, but it’s supposed to be one of those newfangled “nonsectarian prayers” that are designed to protect the sensibilities of those who might subscribe to a different mythology.
When the meeting ended, an angry but anonymous attendee fired off an email to city officials complaining that the prayer was illegal, since it made reference to a specific religious belief. The vice mayor responded by stating that he was a Christian, hence he could not pray without invoking the name of Jesus Christ. Rather than offering up a meaningless nonsectarian prayer in the future, he would simply forfeit his place in the normal opening prayer rotation. Naturally, someone had to contact the ACLU, but they refused to get involved since the vice mayor had agreed to no longer pray in the name of Jesus. It appeared that the crisis had been averted.
No one on the city council has claimed credit for inviting a guest pastor to the next meeting, but it wasn’t especially surprising when he opened with a fervent prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. When interviewed after the meeting, our vice mayor claimed that the city had no control over what the man had said, since he was a private citizen and not a member of the council. This pathetic attempt at side-stepping the rules didn’t sit well with the handful of anti-prayer activists in town.
If you’re not familiar with Roanoke, we’re in the heart of Bible country, less than an hour’s drive from the headquarters of the late Reverend Jerry Falwell. A quick glance at our local paper is all you need to see that folks around here take their religion pretty seriously. The editorial pages are usually filled with letters promoting Intelligent Design, and blaming all of our problems on a general decline in religiosity. The consensus is that a Christian prayer without Christ is pretty much pointless. Even as a steadfast non-believer, I have to agree with them on that point.
The idea of nonsectarian prayer is a ridiculous concept invented by politicians and bureaucrats to avoid facing the larger issue of separation of Church and State. The rationale is that as long as the public prayer doesn’t mention any specific religious belief, then there is no violation of the establishment clause. Like so many other examples of poorly conceived government solutions, by attempting to protect the sensibilities of various minorities, the policy of non-sectarian prayer manages to offend nearly everyone.
The problem is that people of faith believe in very specific Gods. Religion is by definition an explicit set of beliefs for which there is no generic alternative. Expecting Christians to pray without invoking Christ makes no more sense than asking a Pastafarian to worship a plate of macaroni and cheese. All of this begs the main question; given the unsatisfactory nature of generic prayer, why do we continue to make it a part of our public ceremonies?
As a non-believer I am not offended by anyone’s private religious beliefs, and I feel strongly that I deserve the same tolerance for my own. What offends me is the idea that private beliefs must be turned into a public spectacle at official gatherings. It’s not the mention of Jesus Christ that bothers me, but the idea that we cannot conduct public business without first asking for supernatural oversight. The fact that our city council cannot reach a conclusion on any matter of consequence, even with the guiding hand of a generic god, is sufficient proof to me that he cannot exist.
True nonsectarian prayer would probably be something like this:
To whomever or whatever may or may not exist outside the realm of the natural world, some of us assembled here seek your intangible guidance and undetectable protection as this council goes about making petty decisions of no consequence to you.
So be it.
As a Pastafarian I would be honored to give a prayer before Council meetings. But I guess any reference to his Noodly Appendages would be frowned upon.
[...] one non-believer’s take, read Chris Berry’s post on the absurdity of non-sectarian [...]
Man this is old. Non-sectarian prayer is not NEW.. been around since the Constitution. We can say GOD, but not make references that pertain to any certain sect. Jesus, Joe Smith, Budda, Muhhamond etc are all out. I get sick of hearing the bloddy name of his loving son yada yada yada… not everybody even thinks that person existed or if he did that he was Gods son. All govermental and school meetings can have prayer but it CAN NOT promote or deny any specfic sect. Saying Jesus makes it Christian and therefore a no-no. This same thing is happing in my town where we have many Nativie Americans and others ( Hindu) and the Mormon establisment has this way of draging Jesus into it. I dont undersand why Jesus has to be mentioned. I was raised with out that kind of calling on Jesus in prayer as a Methodist. I think it is creepy and shouldnt be done.
Excellent post. As a believer I agree with you whole-heartedly. Nonsectarian prayer is silliness. That type of stuff seems like so much empty words. What is the point?
I live a little further north up Interstate 95 from Roanoke and am currently embroiled in a similiar culture war in a non-religious organization. The organization, which shall remain nameless, is national with local chapters. The national organization mandates non-sectarian prayers IF a chapter elects to open meetings with a prayer (in other words, prayers are not required but must be non-sectarian if said). The local chapter I belong to has several members treatening to leave if we do not reinstate specifically Christian prayers. Some of them also apparently do not understand the meaning of the term non=sectarian and told me that I can’t leave God out of prayers. Umm, well, if you are praying you apparently are praying to something…the noodle analogy? I am in my late 60s and have never encountered such a flap over nothing in my life. For the record, I am a member of a old mainstream Protestant denomination with its own issues about gay bishops and female priests (I am for them). Some of the hateful messages I have received about other religions from these people is a real issue for ME. I am reminded of Thomas Jefferson’s statement that went something like this: “I care not if my neighbor worships one god or twenty. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
To make any prayer non-sectarian.. Just say it anyway you like just leave certain words/names out of if. Creator, God whatever is fine but specific deities like Jesus, Buddha are what make a prayer “sect” specific and thereby exclude anyone not of that sect. Here in this country we welcome all religions and shouldn’t exclude anyone.
I wish it were that easy. It is not going to work with the group in which I am involved. It is all or nothing with some of these people — one message I got was “if we cannot evoke the name of Jesus in our invocation I am staying home until this is fixed.” Non-sectarian is unacceptable to them because they believe that Christianity is the only true religion. The same person told me that Muslims don’t believe in God, “they believe in alla [sic] and that is not GOD.” Is it the water here? I am from Southern California by way of Northern Virginia and never had this issue anywhere else I have lived.
Actually ‘The Lord’s Prayer” is pretty non-sectarian. However; It implies that God is a male figure and some would disagree or say God has NO sex.