The Rationalist Society of Australia has asked a Queensland council whether it will now invite non-Christian leaders to recite prayers in its meetings after an influential councillor declared he is open to the idea.
Today, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman wrote to Mackay Regional Council’s mayor, Greg Williamson (pictured), seeking a confirmation from the council on the proposal to give other faith groups an opportunity to take part in the prayer ritual.
Meanwhile, the RSA has also thanked a Victorian council for replacing an opening prayer ritual with a secular pledge.
In the letter to Mr Williamson (see below), Mr Gladman said the RSA welcomed Councillor George Christensen’s comment on ABC radio last month that he would not have a problem with including people of other faiths in Mackay council’s ‘Opening Prayer’.
“Will the Mackay Regional Council now invite non-Christian faith leaders to also participate in the opening prayer?” wrote Mr Gladman.
“Including non-Christian faith leaders would be a welcome improvement to the current practice that we believe discriminates against non-Christians by only having Christian leaders delivering Christian prayers/sermons.”
But Mr Gladman said continuing with prayer rituals as part of formal proceedings would still exclude non-religious people.
Mackay council has come under fire for having exclusively Christian pastors and preachers leading multiple minutes of Christian sermons at the opening of meetings, with the RSA labelling the practice as likely discriminatory under Queensland human rights and anti-discrimination laws.
Also today the RSA directly thanked the Wyndham City Council, located in Melbourne’s outer south-western suburbs, for replacing an opening prayer with a secular pledge.
Wyndham councillors now pledge to work impartially, uphold the standards of good governance, and “undertake on every occasion to carry out our duties in the best interest of the Wyndham community”.
In a letter to new Mayor Mia Shaw (see below), Mr Gladman said, by adopting the more inclusive and secular practice, Wyndham set a good example for other local governments around Victoria and across Australia to follow.
We actively advocate for secular reform of the school chaplaincy program. Follow our campaign on the school chaplaincy issue here.
If you want to support our work, please make a donation or become a member.
Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
Image: Mayor Greg Williamson (Facebook)
Letter to Mayor Greg Williamson and CEO Scott Owen, 2 December 2024
Dear Mayor Williamson and Mr Owen,
We welcome the comments by Councillor George Christensen on ABC Radio Drive program (19 November 2024) that he would have no problem with the Mackay Regional Council including representatives of minority faiths in the opening prayer ritual in council meetings.
Asked by the ABC presenter whether he would have an issue with faith leaders from other religions delivering prayers, Councillor Christensen said:
“If we’re approached by people of other faiths, that may be a consideration that we enter into.”
“So, no, I wouldn’t [have a problem with including them]. That would be up to the mayor and council if they decided they wanted to go down that track. I don’t see anything wrong with it. But, as far as I am aware, we haven’t had any approaches.”
Will the Mackay Regional Council now invite non-Christian faith leaders to also participate in the opening prayer?
Including non-Christian faith leaders would be a welcome improvement to the current practice that we believe discriminates against non-Christians by only having Christian leaders delivering Christian prayers/sermons.
However, it would still send a message of exclusion to the increasing number of Mackay residents who identify as non-religious. State and international human rights laws provide for the equal treatment of people of faith and non-religious people.
We urge Mackay council to adopt fully secular practices that separate religion and government, and that do not advantage or disadvantage anyone based on their religion or belief.
Regards,
Si Gladman
Executive Director,
Rationalist Society of Australia
Letter to Mayor Mia Shaw, 2 December 2024
Dear Mayor Shaw,
On behalf of the Rationalist Society of Australia, I want to thank the new Wyndham City Council for introducing a secular pledge to open its meetings.
The decision to replace religious prayer with a more inclusive and secular practice sets a good example for other local governments around Victoria and across Australia to follow.
The secular pledge provides an opportunity for all elected representatives to participate, regardless of their religious or non-religious worldviews, and is more meaningful and appropriate for a community in which an increasingly significant number of citizens identify as not religious.
We see it as a win for secularism. The key principles of secularism include: the separation of religion and state; the protection of the rights of religious believers and non-believers alike, ensuring that freedom of religion is always balanced by the right to be free from religion.
In becoming the latest in a long list of councils to adopt a new secular practice, Wyndham council has helped to further build momentum for change at the levels of state and federal parliaments. Despite the many public calls for change from elected representatives, the Victoria parliament, all other state parliaments and the federal parliament continue to discriminate against non-Christians and the non-religious by imposing exclusively Christian prayers at the opening of their daily proceedings.
Once again, thank you.
Regards,
Si Gladman
Executive Director,
Rationalist Society of Australia