Daily prayer: An insult to democracy

The following sectarian prayer is recited every day in Dail Eireann.

Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations
and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance; that every word and
work of ours may always begin from Thee, and by Thee be happily
ended; through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

The prayer is a direct appeal to the Catholic god for assistance in the running of the country.

Other gods, for example, Muslim, Jewish, the pantheon of voodoo gods and the god of Scientology, are all ignored.

The daily recitation of this prayer is an insult to rationality. It’s an insult to all those many people who do not believe in the power/magic of the Catholic/Christian god.

It’s an insult to the growing number of people who don’t believe in any god whatsoever.

Most of all, however, it’s an insult to democracy.

2 thoughts on “Daily prayer: An insult to democracy”

  1. The preamble to the Constitution begins:

    In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred,
    We, the people of Éire,
    Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial, etc., etc.

    Before eliminating the recital of the prayer you refer to in your post, there is a much bigger job to be done in eliminating the preamble to the Constitution, or better still replacing the present Constitution altogether. It has already been amended over twenty five times and is far too long. We need a shorter enabling document and a fresh start for this benighted republic.

  2. Are there not some legal grounds whereby the Constitution can be declared null and void because this “Most Holy Trinity” does not actually exist?
    A serious mistake such as that in a legal document could well nullify it.

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