The Lord’s Prayer is inclusive. Acknowledgement of Country is not

‘For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen.’

This ancient religious prayer does so many things and is radically egalitarian in a way that uniquely suits a democratic society.

The modern secular prayer dwells in the past, establishes a hierarchy within the community based on the immutable characteristic of ancestry, and says nothing about how we move beyond that, or address a multitude of pressing present concerns.

The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t pretend there are no wrongs. It assumes there will be wrongs, including our own, and gives us a way to work together despite them. The Acknowledgement identifies a historical wrong and a continuing distinction but contains no corresponding principle by which either is ever transcended.

If we have to shed one, I’d shed the Acknowledgement. But if the Lord’s Prayer has to go, the Acknowledgement should go as well.