The BC Humanist Association says it will sue the City of Parksville unless the city decides to ban prayer from all of its meetings.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/19670880

“The 2015 decision by the Supreme Court in Saguenay, (QC), prohibits municipal councils from including prayer in their meetings and in the last two inaugural meetings, in 2018 and 2022, Parksville has included prayers, overtly religious prayers, in their inaugural meetings and that’s a violation of the constitution,” said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, the research coordinator with the BC Humanist Association.

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  • Victor Villas@beehaw.org
    141·
    8 months ago

    First Nations blessing is a bit of a gray area because they are not necessarily performed as a religious practice. Instead of a prayer, it’s interpreted (by those present) more like a First Nations representative formally acknowledging that the decisions about to be made are made with their participation.

    It’s a cultural complexity that elders are often also seen as religious leaders and they’ll often speak in religious terms, but their blessing is foremost under the guise of a representative - not a cleric.

    As for a regular Christian prayer… its sole purpose is a ritual for those in that religion.