Campaign against council prayers seeks judicial review

For quite some time the National Secular Society has been campaigning against the common practice of local councils saying prayers before council sessions begin.  Mouse always thought this was rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and was rather surprised that the NSS was putting so much time and effort into something that is totally invisible to all but those who actually serve as council members.  What's more, council members can end the practice themselves if they want to, simply by a vote of the council, so if they manage to convince council members to do so then good for them.  Its frankly no skin off my nose, so to speak.

However, this week the campaign was taken to a new level.  The NSS have asked for a judicial review of Bideford Council.  The Mayor has written in the Guardian that this will be a colossal waste of time for the town, and points out that the council has twice voted to retain the practice in recent times.

The argument being used by the NSS is that the practice is against the human rights legislation.  However, it seems odd that Bideford Council has been singled out, as it is common practice for almost all councils, and Bideford is a rather small one.  Perhaps that was the point - to pick on a small council which cannot fund a proper defence first, in order to establish the precedent.

Almost inevitably, Lord Carey has now entered the fray, defending the practice of saying prayers.

It strikes Mouse that this is a waste of everyone's time.  If an elected council wants to say prayers, then Mouse doesn't see why they should be stopped.  Parliament says prayers every day it sits, and the practice has continued since 1558.  Clearly it should not be compulsory, and anyone who does not want to take part should not feel that they are a second class member.  To be fair to the NSS, they have said that council members should be able to pray before sessions if they want, just that they should go to a separate room to do so.

However, this puts the whole issue in perspective.  The sum total of this campaign and judicial review is to force a few minutes of prayer to be said in a different room.  Surely no-one intended human rights legislation to be used for this.

The NSS really should find something better to do with their time, and Lord Carey shouldn't let them bother him.