Personally, having the presence of a Christian based, publicly funded separate school system, makes me question the need for Christian prayer times in public schools.
Tempers Flare Over School Prayers In Toronto
- Thread starter Liberalman
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Personally, having the presence of a Christian based, publicly funded separate school system, makes me question the need for Christian prayer times in public schools.
I question why we as a so called civilized society cannot teach about the major Religions in schools. We teach just about everything else.
You'd rather they all were forced to leave their individuality and personalities at the door? Public school means it should be accessible, and wherever there is a chance to remove an obstacle for access, that chance should be taken. Deep down, we all know few people are going to keep their Christian daughters out of school because of a lack of prayer, but, there is a xenophobic fear that without access to prayer times, Muslim girls may be kept home, or sent to private school.
Christians have a whole separate school system all to themselves, along with all their holy days being statutory!
So, if you think Muslims have it so well, how about trading positions:
1. Give Muslims their own publicly funded school system and reintegrate all catholics into the public school system,
2. De-officialize Christian holidays and recognize all Muslim ones as statutory, and
3. Reserve a prayer room for Christians during break times and allow Christians to take Christian holidays off school with the teacher giving them their assignments ahead of time for the pupil to catch up on his own.
If Muslims have it so well, you must certainly be salivating at this trade off, right?
By the way, I have no issue with Christians being granted Christian holy days off nor prayer rooms reserved during breaks, as long as it applies to all religions equally.
I didn't say anything about not teaching about religion.
What boggles my mind is that we need to set aside space and time for every religion's prayers. We cannot sing our national anthem, because some religions don't agree with it.
We are not permitted to do anything that bothers anyone, but we must allow some people to do things in the name of religion that absolutely counters our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Because, apparently, it's their guaranteed right. Under the Charter. To go against the Charter.
When they didn't, the 400 plus Muslim students would go to a near by Mosque at lunch time for their prayers. Problem was, like typical teens, many would not return to school afterwards. The school decided to do something about this and came up with allowing the students to use the cafeteria.
Are Muslims prohibited by law from opening up their own schools?
They could dictate whatever stat holidays that they desired specifically to accommodate their religious ideals.
I have no problem with prayers or the national anthem at school as long as no one is forced to pray or sing along. The right to keep silent should always be paramount.
I think you are a tad confused with the demographics of the country and it's history for that matter.
Your version of accommodation is throwing away what has worked for the last 100 some years in order to appease a very small minority.
Separation of church and state applies to funding and lawmaking and setting up curriculums, not to attempting to eradicate evidence of religion in the people who live within the state.
Has anyone considered that this may be a step forward where we can if we wish pray at school, teach religion in school, reduce fear of the differences amongst us, see the commonality that many share.
The problem is that many consider this to be special treatment for a minority, and in my opinion it is and it is not, it solved an attendance problem but others were also not given nor provided the same right. I can understand the frustration but I can also see that this is a perfect time to move this forwards for all the major religions.
Separation of State and Church apparently applies to discriminatory use of public property for the benefit of one religion?
Catholics have the option of publicly-funded Catholic separate schools. Jews, Muslims et al. do not. That's the basic difference. So, are you prepared to remove funding for Catholic schools to put htem all on an equal footing?
I see it that way 100% I really don't get the fear and the anger and the misinformation (or slanted information). I've enver understood why students can't use the rooms within the school for their own clubs, prayers, etc., when they're available. The whole issue has never made much sense to me.
So remove the discrimination... allow prayer, period. It's pretty simple. Just don't fund it, schedule it, or mandate it... leave it up to the citizens to make their own accomodations within the framework.