For the last 3 months I have had the opportunity to attend city council meetings. Let me tell you, there are some strange procedures. Humans have their rituals, but at times they need to be re-examined. Times change and so should city council.

The Lord’s Prayer is read by the Mayor to start each council session. The prayer goes as this: "O God, Author of All Wisdom, Knowledge, and understanding we ask thy Guidance in our consultations to the end that truth and justice may prevail in all our judgments." Some feel that God is not helping our councillors out much in this area. Others who are not religious find this prayer to be pretty ridiculous. Some even find it offensive.

The majority of Canadians are losing their religion. According to Statistics Canada, only 32% of Canadians attend church even once a month. Only 44% of Canadians view religion as something important in their life. While 19% have no religious affiliation. If the current trend continues, Canadians will become even less religious in the future. Ditch the prayer.

The most bizarre city council ritual is having to address the Mayor as "Your Worship" during city committee and council meetings. Otherwise the Mayor will not talk to you. For real? Is the Mayor God or Jesus or something? Should I get down on one knee and bow before the Mayor too? Who makes these rituals up? Were they just created as a joke to see what people will go along with? Was it to keep the peasant multitude in a state of awe to prevent them from torching the ruling few?

When I first heard "Your Worship" I wasn’t sure whether this was funny or downright scary. Let’s do away with this ego trip and delusion of grandeur.

These are not just folksy Calgarian rituals either. They actually occur in city councils all across Canada. There is a movement to get rid of the Lord’s Prayer though. In 1999, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled against the town of Penetanguishene. The Court said the Lord's Prayer violated the Charter of Rights of non-Christians attending council meetings. By law this is be binding to all municipal councils in Ontario.

The result in the Greater Toronto Area has been that the majority of municipalities, except Brampton, Mississauga and Oshawa, have eliminated the Lord's Prayer from city council meetings. Uxbridge Mayor Bob Shepherd said, "I just cannot be a hypocrite and stand there and recite it when I don't believe it" (I thought this was what being a politician was all about). Even the Middlesex County and the Durham Region council’s in Ontario eliminated the Lord’s Prayer.

Even though in Matthew 6:6, Christ says you should not pray in public and by law they are not supposed to, many councils in Ontario resist and continue with the Lord’s prayer. Counter arguments like, "Our community was settled on Christian morals and values" and "We accept tradition, we value it, we respect it. It's not an issue" are mindlessly parroted out.

If humans blindly kept accepting traditions we would still be living in caves.
The time has come to enter the 21^st century. The Lord’s Prayer and using “Your Worship” to address the Mayor should be deposited into the bust bins of history. 

              Thank you to the Arusha Centre for advertising in the Calgary Cowbell!