Atheist Uses iPod Instead of Praying During Town Council Preamble, Furor Ensues

Nicole Martinelli ()

Atheist Uses iPod Instead of Praying During Town Council Preamble, Furor Ensues

A city councilor in Dartmouth, England has sparked debate by wearing his iPod earbuds to drown out prayers traditionally said before town council meetings.

Brian Boughton, an atheist, put in his earbuds on during the short prayer in protest. His iPod wasn’t turned on but fellow councilors branded the move disrespectful.

Boughton told the BBC: ‘I accept that they want to continue with the tradition but that leaves the problem for those like myself who do not wish to participate.

“I was accused of being disrespectful which I never intended.  Listening to the iPod was a way to get the debate going but I never had it switched on.  I’ve asked the mayor to consider opening up the prayers to other people.”

‘It is good to reflect quietly when one is preparing to do public business and to try to reach decisions that are for the benefit of the community.  The basic idea is good but why should it be restricted to the Christian faith and the Church of England?”

Putting his earbuds in was seen as a gesture of defiance.
Mayor Debbie Morris told the BBC:

“Councilors should have the respect, if they wish not to participate, either to stand quietly or if they do not want to be in the chamber there’s nothing stopping them from waiting outside,” she said.

Morris said the town council plans to keep saying prayers before town council meetings.

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Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to adizta121 on Flickr.

Via loc.gov.uk

13 comments »

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nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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Posted in iPod |

  • Matt

    Irritating atheist makes waves, film at 11, followed by Vegans and Mac addicts, which is more pretentious.

  • Josh

    If they have a problem with his iPod headphones, then Mr Boughton should request permission to read a prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster instead.

  • Don Pope

    Good for him. Why should he have to wait outside or listen to something he disagrees with? The iPod seems like a practical solution that doesn’t harm anyone.

  • garham

    “Councilors should have the respect, if they wish not to participate, either to stand quietly or if they do not want to be in the chamber there’s nothing stopping them from waiting outside,” she said.

    WHY? Is this in the British Constitution or Bill of Rights?

  • http://blog.tice.de/?sprache=englisch Tice

    Good so! Don’t mix politics and religion, because – if you believe it or not ; ) – some people are not religious! And they are many!

  • http://www.we-rate-stuff.com brad

    Should move to America. That’s the point of it. Not that there aren’t Christians all over trying to force you to praise God here. Maybe I’ll move to England.

  • Duality

    Good on him! It’s always difficult to judge whether something like this is offensive or not, but in this case if he’s just sitting quietly and not listening, then who cares?

    It seems like they’re merely offended by the fact that someone isn’t praying with them more than anything. I hate to break it to you guys, but not everyone in this world is religious!

  • Mister

    just because I’m not religious doesn’t mean I should go out of my way to disrespect people who are. and…ok…maybe he didn’t go out of his way to disrespect them but it wouldn’t have been much for him to just take the headphones off two seconds earlier.

    No one said he had to pray, just show some respect for other peoples traditions. If I saw someone at a baseball sitting during the national anthem I’d smack him in the back of the head. I’m not saying you’ve got to hold your hand over your heart, but stand up. To not stand is a demonstration of disrespect, as are the the leaving in of the headphones.

  • Justin

    This is rediculous.
    Athiests aren’t any less annoying than modern day Christians.
    Athiests just need to shut up because their opinion doesn’t matter.

  • http://www.grahamtastic.com ghall

    @ Justin Obvious troll is obvious.

    Personally I don’t think he did the right thing. I’m speaking as an atheist myself here. I believe it’s rather obnoxious to just put your earbuds in to ignore the prayer. Just sit down, suck it up, and tune it out.

  • Handsomematt

    I don’t understand why there are prayers at council meetings in the first place. Surely it’s more disrespectful to assume everyone attending these meetings is Christian (CofE) than it is to simply put in earphones while people are praying. And what’s the big deal about doing this anyway? Why is it disrespectful to do this? How does this offend people? He wants to be there at the start of the meeting but doesn’t want to listen to a prayer, big deal. It’s not like he attempted to interrupt or cause a scene or disturbance. I don’t get it.

  • JohnW

    Mister – it’s an interesting point about standing for the national anthem at baseball. The first couple of matches I went to (as a UK tourist on holiday) I didn’t stand for the anthem. I wouldn’t stand in the UK for the national anthem as it seems to me clearly a matter of choice. I even thought the it was a bit odd to stand for the anthem in a foreign country. The only reason that I stand for an anthem (and I do now when go to a baseball match) is because I feel socially uncomfortable not doing so. So, if you decide to smack someone in the back of the head, please find out if they understand your tradition first, they may be a tourist…. and isn’t there something in the Star Spangled Banner that talks about the land of the free?!

  • Anonymous

    Bravo!!!!!!!!