A review of media reports
Speaker vows there will be no prayer ban in the Commons
Daily Mail
Speaker John Bercow was forced to act yesterday to head off a threat to the Commons’ daily prayer session.
Simon Walters and Brendan Carlin, report on Mailonline – He insisted that parliamentary privilege means MPs’ prayers will not be affected by a controversial court ruling to outlaw them in a town hall.
But the current system of daily prayers faces a growing threat from some MPs – including atheists who take part in a ‘sit-down protest’ at each session they attend.
[…] Last night, David Cameron also entered the row by insisting the prayer sessions had to stay. A No 10 source said: ‘The Prime Minister thinks that the prayer sessions are very important and that we should keep them.’
And Conservative MP Bill Cash said: ‘The Bideford ruling is bizarre and perverse and sends the message that secularism reigns supreme.’
He was supported by fellow Conservative Mark Pritchard, who said: ‘This is more evidence of rising Christianophobia. ‘Fundamentalist atheists are zealots in seeking to untie the Judeo-Christian cords that have bound this nation together for centuries.
‘If the courts, bishops and Parliament fail to stand up for our Christian traditions, then extremists parties, for their own divisive and sinister ends, will.’
Labour MP David Lammy also backed the right of councils and the Commons to ‘gather for pray’.
Mr Lammy said: ‘I do worry about an aggressive secularism that is drowning out the ability of people of faith to live with that faith.
More at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099971/Defiant-Speaker-vows-prayer-ban-Commons.html
George Carey: time to say that Christians have rights too
Telegraph
George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, has warned there are ‘deep forces at work in Western society’ that are degrading the values of Christianity after a High Court ruling banned public prayers from council meetings.
George Carey was not regarded as an outspoken Archbishop of Canterbury by the standards of both his predecessor and his successor.
While Robert Runcie and Rowan Williams generated and still generate headlines and ruffle politicians’ feathers, George Carey was largely overshadowed during his 11 years as head of the Anglican communion by internal church battles, notably over the ordination of women. Some even came to regard him as a wee bit dull and mealy-mouthed. If so, then he has more than made up for it since he stepped down in 2002.
More at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9075653/George-Carey-time-to-say-that-Christians-have-rights-too.html
Christian leaders vow to fight council prayer ruling
Guardian
Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, says ‘these sensitive matters can no longer be left in hands of judges’
More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/11/christian-leaders-council-prayer-ruling?newsfeed=true
Fighting for the right to pray
Telegraph
Muslims are taking their worship on to streets, as Christians vow to battle a ban on praying in the council chamber. What is the future for faith in Britain?
They knelt in the road to pray, despite the cold. Four or five hundred young men had left their offices in City law firms and banks on Friday lunch time to come hurrying through the streets of Spitalfields for the salaat al-jumma, the most important prayer of the Muslim week.
More at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9076902/Fighting-for-the-right-to-pray.htm
Pledge to defy ban on prayers
Wells People
A Church of England spokesperson added: “Prayers before council meetings are a way of setting the important decisions of elected councillors within the wider moral context that acknowledges the past, present and future role of Christianity in this …
Read more: http://www.wellspeople.co.uk/Pledge-defy-ban-prayers/story-15199095-detail/story.html
Bishops and MPs criticise High Court ruling on council prayers
Christian Today
Bishops and MPs have criticised the High Court’s landmark ban on prayers during council meetings.
Read more: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishops.and.mps.criticise.high.court.ruling.on.council.prayers/29307.htm
And: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16263