Whether we like it or not, there are no magic words that we have to utter but there are sacred deeds that we need to perform. Like it or not there are no crucial statements in life but there are essential actions for those who live it. I refer to the immensely holy tempest in a small municipal teapot that is the campaign to maintain or restore the Lord’s Prayer in various council chambers and legislative assemblies.
For many decades myriad political and communal assembles began their meetings with the statement that is at the very centre of the Christian faith. But nowadays numerous towns and cities across North America have decided to use a non-denominational prayer instead or simply omitted any prayer at all. Many pro-lifers have joined campaigns to fight all this and while I understand their anxieties and concerns I have to wonder if this is the best way to use one’s energy. Remember, we have a Supreme Court that has recently decided that doctor-aided self-slaughter is absolutely fine.
Frankly, I don’t see why a city council should have any prayer at all before they debate the nuances of street parking, stop light regulation and garbage disposal. “Blessed are the recyclers for they will spend eternity in a wind-farm.” Seriously, we have to get our priorities in order.
I happen to say the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday, shortly before I receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. I say it regularly outside of church too because it forms the essence of my life. But I don’t expect my work colleagues to say it with me before we start the day and I don’t expect those who do not believe it to say it at all.
I doubt very much that the words of Jesus, mouthed robotically by indifferent or distracted politicians, will suddenly inject grace and goodness into their subsequent discussions. Nor do I think it fitting to demand the prayer be said when it is not recited with reverence or respect; indeed I find it rather offensive that the Lord’s Prayer should be seen as perfunctory, traditional or some sort of theological starter’s gun. This is the prayer of Christ Jesus, not a mangling and mingling of a bunch of words to be used to score points or make a politician appear religious.
The traditional aspect is important, in that those who argue for the prayer to be restored often use it as an argument. One of the leaders of a recent campaign in Ontario has spoken of the “Canadian Christian tradition” as a reason to keep the Lord’s Prayer in place. But the Lord’s Prayer is a radical declaration, a call for absolute forgiveness, purity and Godliness. That’s not tradition, that’s revolution.
If it’s just part of our tradition, like the Stanley Cup or maple syrup, it’s not worth much at all. But it’s worth everything in the world. And if politicians or anybody else believe what the prayer says, they are more than welcome to recite it to themselves or – far more important – to live out its words in their daily lives. If only that were the case; if so, we would not have publicly-funded abortion and now a move to introduce euthanasia.
The irony of all this is that in fighting to enforce the Lord’s Prayer the campaigners may be missing the entire point. They have, I am sure, clear hearts but do they have clear minds? We speak here not of a comfort aid, not a safety blanket but of a plea by the Son of God, later executed by the authorities, to change the world. Those who sentenced Jesus to death also prayed before they met and debated – something perhaps worth remembering.
I do not want church and state to mix but I do want the church to transform the state. That will not happen by cosmetic references to religion but by grabbing politics by the neck and shaking it into the light. Surely we have discovered that if nothing else in the pro-life movement in the last 20 years.
Our friends who art struggling to preserve the Lord’s Prayer before council meetings …. get a grip guys. Devote your time to fighting poverty, injustice, and racism, to the lonely, grieving, broken, vulnerable and falsely accused, to saving the lives of the unborn, the handicapped, the sick, and elderly. Otherwise you haven’t got a prayer. Sorry my friends, but that’s the way I see it.
Michael Coren’s website is www.michaelcoren.com,where he can be booked for speaking.