Is it self-evident to accept prayer in your home?
I'm gonna address another sensitive subject in this thread and this time the subject of religion and prayer, especially in the context of hosting a dinner with friends, family and a few strangers in your own home and one of the guests you don't really know asks if he can say Grace with everyone before starting the meal. Would you accept that?
What do you think is more appropriate in such a situation, whose right supersedes the other's? On one side that person's right to express her spirituality and faith at the risk of imposing it upon others who might not agree, or on the other, the host's right to create the mood and evening he wants to in his own home at the risk of impeding on other people's freedom and inclinations?
Is it appropriate to ask if you are the believer? Is it appropriate to refuse if you are the non-believer? Do the circumstances of the gathering have an influence on the answer, should we be more lenient if it happens to be on Christmas? Moreover, if we decide that an atheist has to allow a theist to say Grace at his table, does that mean that we should grant the atheist the same right if he shares a meal with believers and accept that no one says Grace because that's his wish? If not, why not? Difficult questions...
Being an atheist myself, i think the appropriate thing to do for a believer in that situation is to take it upon himself, say nothing and do his thing on the side. However, i also think it would be inappropriate for me to refuse that simple thing to a believer if the question should ever be raised. That said, even if i would accept the behavior at my table (not without a grunt), i would still make it clear that this opens up the matter to criticism and potential reactions, at least on my part. If you want to share your superstitions with everyone at my table, you will have to accept that i share my "superstition" with the table too, namely rationalism and critical thinking. Isn't that only fair?
Then again, wouldn't that completely destroy the spirit and mood of the gathering, especially if it is on Christmas? Not for me obviously, but for whoever deeply associates the holiday with its so-called Judeo-Christian roots and Jesus himself. However, if it was only among close friends and family, it wouldn't be an issue because they would know me and what to expect from me and i would know the theist in question and what to expect; in that situation, there would be no problem to begin with because there would be nobody to vex or brush the wrong way. My conundrum applies mainly (only?) to an event of yours where it is a relatively unknown +1 who makes the request, such as in this movie.
So as you can see, i think it is a very subtle and difficult question and no matter the answer, it seems to me that someone's right has to be impeded on either way. Now, i should mention that i do believe in everyone's right to express their own religion and spirituality in spite of potential social reprobation, but i also do believe in my own right to not have to endure this kind of display of religious fervor, especially in my home. Thus, if I'm willing to renounced on my right to not have beliefs pushed upon me, you should be willing to renounce on your right to not have your beliefs challenged, if there ever was such a right - you see what i mean.
At last, i should add that there's obviously no right answers to those questions, nobody is wrong and everybody is right and/or nobody is right and everybody is wrong and at the end of the day, i think most of one's answer will hinge upon whether or not one is a believer himself. Doesn't matter, what do you think?
People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs