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| No | 80% | 12 votes | Total: 15 votes | |
| Yes | 20% | 3 votes |
No
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Add to FavoritesThis is an open letter to Mr. Dalton McGuinty, leader of Ontario and the provincial Liberal government regarding the proposal to eliminate the Lord's Prayer from the opening minutes of Legislative Sessions in Ontario, Canada:
Dear Mr McGuinty,
In your desire to replace the traditional Lord's Prayer with a more generic and inclusive prayer for the opening of parliamentary sessions in Ontario, I would respectfully suggest that your view of leadership may be flawed. Leadership is not always about giving everyone what one thinks they want. Rather, it is about bettering society and providing what is in the long term best interest of everyone. This is why it would not be a good idea to bring in sharia law to Canada despite the fact that there are many more Muslims living here than there were fifty years ago. This is but one example.
Another example would be the elimination of Christmas as a holiday because it may offend certain individuals who dislike the fact that we celebrate the birth of Christ. This too is a practice that is part and parcel of a society that owes its greatness not so much to economic principles as to the ethics and values inherent in the Christian religion. The day we start to separate Christian values from politics is the day we not only lose our identity, but it is also the day we start heading down the moral slide some politicians are already purportedly on.
The founding fathers of Canada and the United States were mostly Protestant Christians who reflected their values within government and politics as well as in everyday life. They established freedom of religion as a principle to prevent the abuse of power by religious leaders in society, not to banish Christian values. Their aim was actually to uphold them.
The reason why many immigrants came and continue to come to Canada and the United States is because these countries offer freedom and a better way of life. The Christian values practiced within these countries make this possible. By compromising them in the name of inclusiveness we jeopardize them and indeed start to become intolerant towards them. Ironically, we can end up compromising the very freedom we cherish so dearly.
For this reason I would strongly suggest Mr. McGuinty, that you reconsider your position on eliminating the Lord's Prayer from Legislature. It may be irrelevant to you, but to many practicing Christians and to those who enjoy the benefits of our forefathers, it is an integral part of who we are. Like so many good things in society, once they are gone, it is hard to get them back. I hope you take this into account when you consider the actions you will be remembered for once you are out of office.
Learn more about this author, Bohdan Rewko (Bo of T.O.).
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Yes
This is an issue that has recently popped up in the media in Ontario. The situation is whether to remove the Lord's Prayer from the opening sessions of the Ontario Legislature. There are many parts of our society where we permit religion. These include public places, businesses and recreation areas. There are also a few places where religion shouldn't be permitted, including places of law and places of politics. It is that reason why we don't allow for Islamic, Jewish, or any other religious law, when there is the law we have in place now, which does its best to be as inclusive as possible.
This case is no different. Back in the founding days, the province and the legislature were dominated by Christians. That has changed radically over the years, with people of all religious and racial back rounds move into Ontario. So now we should do our best to change how we do politics in the Legislature to reflect the population change.
So far, a few other provinces in Canada have decided to make this change, one example including British Columbia (BC) where they have a moment of silence in which everyone can reflect or prayer before the days activities.
Many of the Members of Provincial Parliament are non-Christian. So how inclusive are we if we have a prayer that might be separate from theirs? If we take out the prayer, we are not going down a moral slide, we are climbing up the inclusiveness ladder and we allow more people to feel welcome.
Yes, the founding fathers may have been Christian, but why have the one prayer in the Legislature? We wouldn't be destroying anything if we remove the prayer, instead what we are doing is creating an equal environment.
If we want to discuss who or what came first, maybe we should be praying to the Great Spirit of many Aboriginal faiths, which was present before the settlers came along.
What would happen if the majority population became Muslims or Jews over time, would we replace the Lord's Prayer with something else?
No.
Regardless of the past, this is the present and things have changed. We need to adapt to allow for everyone to have a say, not just the say of those from the past.
Learn more about this author, B Alexander.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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