Please note Quahom1, this is the
Totnes Town Council in Devon, not a Christian Church. So let's revisit this:
Apples to apples. The Cotnes community in Devon is not a Church, Christian or otherwise. This is a matter of church and state - you know,
never the the twain shall meet. Case closed. A person with his or her finger in the book should take this up with folks like the Founding Fathers of the US of A. Sure this is the UK. But America isn't the ONLY place where it's (still) unwise to mix religion and politics.
This isn't about "political correctness," which is pretty much an oxymoron anyway. It's about expanding one's heart and mind, or a community's collective hearts and minds, to include those who are different, but have the SAME RIGHTS under *whatever* Constitution, or Law of the Land, happens to be on draft at the time. This is about something BIGGER than you, or me. It's about God, and the right of people to worship and acknowledge - or even to NOT worship and acknowledge - God, in a way that is fitting for them.
You yourself acknowledge the words of Christ Jesus Himself, wherein He instructed the inquisitive both in what manner to pray, and under what circumstances. He gave a word-form, or mantram -
The Lord's Prayer, or
Our Father. And He did indeed say to go into a *silent place*, though I would suggest "closet" may refer to the Hidden Chamber of the Heart, and not that place where you hang your overcoat.
But still, you do not need to scream vain repetitions from the rooftops. Who and what we are is already proclaimed in such manner, whether we like it or not.
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
...
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Matthew 6:5,7
Shall we scream about oppression, or in our unrest do we not make ourselves into the very people of these two verses, whom Jesus rebuked. Was not His example that we
should in fact, be praying in secret, or in quiet?
I somehow doubt any Buddhists would be offended if the political authorities insisted on carrying out the tradition of Christian Prayer, in Devon, or wherever. Yet we see the Christian reaction to being asked to do
those dangerous, idolatrous, blasphemous and heathen Yoga stretching and chanting exercises.
Frankly though, I don't blame people for being upset. If I was as worried about my house crumbling around me as some people seem to be, I guess I'd be screaming xenophobically at everything I perceived as threatening, too!
Two houses, one of fear, one of Love. Only one can stand the test of time, for one of these has a foundation of Rock, while the other is built entirely upon sand. You don't have to be a Roman Catholic to understand this.
~Zag