Waverley is a suburb of Sydney in Australia, and the Waverly Council just did something you’ll never see in an American city.

They nixed the Serenity Prayer said before each city council meeting and their explanation makes complete sense:

[Waverley Mayor, Cr John Wakefield] wants Waverley councillors to focus on good governance and ethical behaviour instead. “Our core responsibility is to act with integrity, to act ethically, on behalf of the community,” he said. … “Some councillors and a large proportion of our community are not religious,” Cr Wakefield said. “It would be hypocritical of those councillors who aren’t religious to say a prayer to God when they don’t believe in God.”

I’ll take Things You’ll Never Hear in America for $200, Alex.

Any council member who is religious can still pray — privately — before any meeting if s/he chooses, but there’s no longer mandatory gibberish uttered by everyone before they have to get down to work.

Why is it so hard for our own politicians to learn a lesson from this?

