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15
Dec 2020
Harrogate Borough Council's practice of reading Christian prayers before meetings is exclusionary to people of other faiths, says the National Secular Society.
When the full council meets, the mayor's chaplain Rev Michael Gisbourne leads a Christian prayer before it begins, as he did when councillors met virtually last week. The prayer began by saying: "Lord our God from whom all wisdom and understanding comes."
Except for a brief spell in 2015, HBC has been holding Christian prayer before meetings since the council's inception in 1974.
But Judy Audaer, who is a member of the National Secular Society's council and was brought up in Harrogate, says HBC should stop the practice for good.
She told the Stray Ferret:
According to the latest census in 2011, 68.6% of the population in the Harrogate district identify as a Christian, 22.5% as having no religion, 0.4% Muslim, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Hindu, 0.1% Agnostic and 0.1% Sikh.
The majority of councils hold Christian prayer before meetings, as does the House of Commons and House of Lords.
A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council said:
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