COLUMN: Think Again – Removing God from public prayers is silly

“Whereas Canada is founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.”

As we see in the opening line of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the founders of our country felt it was appropriate to recognize the supremacy of God.

It wasn’t just our original founders who felt this way. The Charter was only added to our Constitution in 1982, which means those who drafted this addition to the Constitution less than 50 years ago still thought it appropriate to mention God in it.

Ironically, the federal Liberals, the party that likes to take credit for the Charter, recently issued new guidelines for military chaplains that essentially removes God from public events, including from prayers.

Specifically, chaplains are instructed to deliver “spiritual reflections” at public events that “do not use religious language, including references to God, etc.” Now, you might be wondering what chaplains are supposed to talk about if they cannot mention God.

The new guidelines say that during their public addresses, chaplains should “reflect upon lessons learned, beliefs, values and experiences to inspire gratitude, remembrance, hope, and integrity.” In other words, the Liberal government wants to turn chaplains into little more than glorified motivational speakers.

According to the guidelines, the purpose of this change is to ensure that everyone, including atheists, feels included when chaplains speak to them. The problem with this sort of inclusion is it waters down messages to such a point that no one finds anything meaningful in them.

The irony is that many atheists have no problem hearing about God. For example, I have atheist friends who enjoy singing traditional Christmas carols and who even attend Christian church services on an occasional basis. Even famous atheist Richard Dawkins has recently described himself as a “cultural Christian” who appreciates the societal benefits that Christianity has brought to our world.

Few people are so intolerant that they cannot handle hearing a message that they disagree with. The appropriate response is to recognize that when a chaplain, someone whose very job involves conveying spiritual ideas, speaks at a public event, it’s likely that there will be at least some sort of reference to God.

Incidentally, our national anthem contains the key line, “God keep our land glorious and free.” Our anthem is sung regularly at major public events, including during military ceremonies. If the Liberals truly believe that any mention of God is intolerant, they should stop singing the national anthem at public events. If soldiers can handle hearing about God in our anthem, they’ll probably be okay hearing a chaplain mention God in a prayer.

Telling chaplains that they can’t mention God during their public messages and prayers is a prime example of what happens when politicians assume that inclusion means ensuring that no one ever has to listen to anything they disagree with. Not only is this unworkable in practice, but it also ignores the fact that there’s a much better approach we can take.

Real inclusion isn’t about stripping away references to the religious and cultural practices that mean something to many Canadians. Instead of stripping things away, let’s add to our traditions. For example, the guidelines explicitly say that Indigenous cultural practices are permitted at public events. This is a welcome addition, since it affirms the important contributions of Indigenous people both in the past and in the present.

Diversity is about adding, not subtracting. It’s wrong to tell chaplains that they can’t mention God in their public prayers and messages.

A chaplain should always be able to say, “May God keep our land glorious and free.”

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.