The Atheist Foundation of Australia strongly supports the proposal to remove the Lord’s Prayer from section 50 of the Federal Senate’s standing orders. Australia is a secular society and any religious practice should not be forced on anyone let alone be codified in a dictate of proceedings for the representatives which we elect. We commend Senator Di Natale’s action in recognising that this requirement is not only an outdated construct in a multi-cultural society but does not represent all Australians in what is one of our most important representative institutions.
In the 2011 census, the “no religion” category became the second largest single demographic and trends indicate that it will soon be the largest. These census trends indicate that even if you were to combine all denominations of Christianity, it would be unlikely to reach 60% today and is predicted to fall below 50% by the 2021 or 2026 census. The Atheist Foundation of Australia would recommend that the Senate Procedure Committee pass this amendment to section 50 and send the signal to the Australian population that it is truly a body which represents all of us.
Michael Boyd
President
Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc
PO Box 1062
Lane Cove NSW 1595
Phone: (08) 8835 2269
Email: [email protected]
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