Spectator competition winners: Our Dawkins, who art in Oxford: Lord’s Prayers for the 21st century

The latest competition, to submit a Lord’s Prayer for the 21st century, drew a smallish but pleasingly varied entry. One of my favourites, among the many parodies of the Lord’s Prayer already out there, is Ian Dury’s ‘Bus Driver’s Prayer’: ‘Our father,/ who art in Hendon/ Harrow Road be Thy name./ Thy Kingston come; thy Wimbledon…’. Bill Greenwell’s ‘The Refugees’ Prayer’ started promisingly — ‘Half-hearted, we chant/ in haven, harrowed by the numb;/ deny kin can come,/ deny well, be dumb…’ — but I found bits of it puzzling. A.H. Harker, Alan Millard, Paul Carpenter, David Silverman and Meg Muldowney were also strong contenders. The winners, printed below, are awarded £25 each.

Rob Stuart Our Dawkins, who art in Oxford, Followed be thy meme. Let religious apologists come, You’ll tear them a new one In Fort Worth, Mombasa or in Devon. Give us this day our daily facts And forgive those who criticise our best guesses, As if an as yet incomplete explanation of the laws governing the physical universe somehow represents a damning indictment of the scientific method.