Apparently when the municipal government in Saskatoon shows its appreciation for volunteers, it’s with the blessing of Jesus. Yay.
Ashu Solo, an atheist, and a member of the cultural diversity and race relations committee, wasn’t so impressed when a volunteer appreciation dinner was opened with a prayer.
Atchison said he is sorry to hear Solo felt excluded.He suggested in the future, the dinner could feature prayers from different religions on a rotating basis. There could even be a dinner with no prayer at all for atheists, he said.
Solo said the rotation idea will not work because there are thousands of religions.
He wants an apology from the mayor and a promise there won’t be any more prayers at City of Saskatoon events. He said if he does not receive those by next Friday, he will proceed with a human rights complaint naming the City of Saskatoon, Atchison and Donauer.
Sure, they could probably come to some sort of compromise with regards to prayers, but, bottom line, privileging prayer doesn’t belong in government. And, oops, we didn’t mean anything by it, is really not an acceptable excuse.