The prayer at the start of the lecture got mixed reviews when feedback was given. I didnt think that the prayer was offensive, as the U.K. has always practiced Christianity. Is it offensive to practice the core religion in your own country? Maybe it could be seen as leaving other religions and faiths out of the picture, but I honestly do not see the problem.
Was the lecture hall the correct venue for the prayer to take place? I think that isn't a valid issue. Surely the prayer was meant for everyone present, so in my opinion those who were offended may have taken it the other way around, and left their faith entirely out.
In a world where race and religion are under intense scrutiny, the prayer may have been taken out of context.
''In past eras when crime inside churches was rare, the church sanctuaries were open most, and often all, of the time, ready for anyone with spiritual needs to come in and pray in peace. As with everything else nowadays, the fears, expense, staffing and effort to do that is too much for most congregations. But then, where can we pray? Anywhere, I suppose, but the rest of our lives and our world get in the way.'' - http://www.spirithome.com/prayroom.html
To solve the problem, notification should be given beforehand to warn those who have strong feelings about religion can expect to experience another religion. Learning from other religions can only be a good thing in my eyes, as similarities can be made and differences understood on top of clearing up any issues one may have.
1 comment:
I think the prayer was out of the ordinary and was neither good or bad. It felt really weird having a prayer at the beginning but i just went along with it. But then i became confused when he asked us our opinion of it as i was taking it seriously so i felt well out of context. It really did touch a few spots with everyone and opened up alot of arguments about religion. I don't think the lecture hall was the right place because i think it was more about scutinizing religion rather than accepting everyones choice of opinion. I also think it was very disrespectful to Jehover Whitness's regarding it as a cult and baseing the arguments around them. I don't think anyone has the right to call any religon a cult people should be left to decide for themselves.
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