More than half of Canadians support a ban on prayer in public life, such as council meetings or legislative sessions, as was recently imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In a survey of 1,504 Canadian adults, taken after the Supreme Court found official public prayers violate the state’s duty of religious neutrality, three-quarters approved of just starting meetings with no ceremony at all, and a similar proportion approved of a moment of silence.
The least acceptable idea was for rotating specific prayers – Jewish on Monday, for example, Muslim on Tuesday, Christian on Wednesday – which only 30 per cent of people found acceptable.
Far more – 52 per cent – approved of a generic prayer to God that did not mention any specific faith. Curiously, two-thirds of Canadians liked the idea of a “quick inspiring pep talk” in place of a prayer.