Star comment: Prayer ban a sad day for Christianity
A lot of play is made these days about the virtues of tolerance, but events at Bridgnorth Town Council raise the question of what exactly constitutes "tolerance".
Here is the conundrum. Like many councils, Bridgnorth has had the traditional practice of saying Christian prayers at its meetings.
Position A: The council should show tolerance to those who are of no faith, or of a different faith, and stop shoving Christian prayers down the throats of the unwilling.
Position B: Those of no faith, or of a different faith, should show tolerance to the Christian traditions of a Christian nation in which the Church of England is the established church and the Queen is its Supreme Governor, and consequently should put up with prayers and in so doing respect the faith of others.
It is a measure of the amount of uncertainty on such matters that the vote in the council could not have been closer, with six voting for abolishing prayers, and six voting against.
In these circumstances the casting vote fell to the current mayor, Valerie Voysey. There is something of a convention, although not a rule, in such situations that the casting vote will be for the status quo. Councillor Voysey did not cast her vote for the status quo. She voted to scrap prayers.
The motion to scrap prayers had been put forward by a former mayor, Councillor Edward Marshall, who pointed to the way in which Britain has become much more of a multi-faith society.
By saying prayers, he said, "we are essentially imposing our beliefs on others".
It is indeed true that the Christian tradition has shaped the entire social landscape of Britain for centuries. There are still special trading rules for Sundays, Christmas and Easter are public holidays, and many couples choose to wed in church.
The decision by Bridgnorth councillors is not a neutral one. It represents an active dismantling of the part the Christian faith has to play in modern Britain, and is a step towards secularism.
It challenges the status of Christianity in society, saying it has no special place or role.
The town councillors have voted to kill the prayers off when, as the split vote shows, they still matter to people in Bridgnorth. And because they still matter to people, it is hard to believe that we've heard the last of this issue.
