Atheist-MP Wants to Ban Prayers at the Victorian Parliament!

Fiona Patten, an Atheist member of the Victorian Legislative Council, called on the Victorian parliament to stop citing prayers from one single religion and replace it with a 'moment of reflection'. 

Also ReadIndonesia Allows Mosques to Open For Ramadan Prayers

The Australian Atheist MP supported her idea of scrubbing the prayers saying it doesn’t reflect the diverse community in Victoria, saying all religions should be the same without any privileges.

According to the MP, prayers shouldn’t be exclusive to the Christian ones adding that an anti-campaign to her idea is already launched to ban the replacement of the lord's prayer with the inclusive option of silent prayer and reflection.

Patten, who is a Victorian Legislative Council member for the Northern Metropolitan Region, suggested stopping prayers imposing a moment of silence for every person to have the freedom reciting whatever he/she wants implicitly.

Furthermore, she added that over 50% of her colleagues chose to take a secular affirmation rather than a religious oath when they were sworn in the parliament.

Mixed reactions emerged on the MP’s suggestion with a majority of people supporting her call; a Twitter user said “No. Religion has no place in lawmaking. Get rid of it.” Another user wrote: “Totally agree. It’s good to see someone challenge Christian traditions within secular settings.”

Also ReadFriday Prayers Back in Hagia Sophia For The First Time in 86 Years

However, Martyn Iles, the head of the Australian Christian Lobby denounced the Atheist MP’s bill emphasizing on the importance of acknowledging the ‘power of God’.

Fiona, the leader of the Reason Party, raised her voice in favor of her prayer’s scrap suggestion saying it would extend the right to other religious groups to have a moment of silence with their faith, or simply have some time to reflect.