Dear Editor,

TIME and again we attend public gatherings: Celebrations, commemorations, observances etc. etc., where prayers to be offered are at the top of the agenda. That is all well and good; we ought to be virtuous and, by choice, God-fearing people. However, when religious leaders from three popular religions: Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are invited to lead prayers, it leaves much to be desired. For these reasons listed below, we should pray, using a generic national prayer:

It is time-consuming to have several leaders offer prayers, sometimes in one language, then translating in English. Some people with short attention span do not sincerely observe the offerings. Some religious leaders arrive late, or do not show up. (Through the grapevine it was rumoured that political affiliation causes some of them to abstain).

And what about religions other than the mainstream ones (such as Bahaism, Buddhism, Rastafarianism, Judaism, etc? Are they not recognised? While we cannot logistically have prayers from all religions every time, we can have one common prayer. It is time that we have a competition for composing a national prayer, and use the winning prayer at all events as desired. That will certainly be in the spirit of genuine social cohesion.

Regards,
Karan Chand,
Region 2 resident