Quebec Govt mandating religious beliefs or not?
A recent ruling by the Quebec Superior Court upheld the right of the Prov Govt to mandate the teaching of Ethics and Religion – That in itself is fine and I do agree but teaching that all are the same – equal and correct is a violation of freedom of religious belief or the freedom to not believe – My opinion-
Teaching about other religions and their ethics and moral codes is fine but it cannot interfere with ones own belief or non belief – Difficult to achieve – Yes – Impossible No –
Trudeau once stated that the Govt has no role in the bedroom – Well that applies more so to Religion.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1991010
What could possibly be wrong with children gaining a general knowledge of the world's major religions and the differences among them?
Plenty, if the government requires that children be taught that all religions, and all non-religious moral codes, have equal merit.
If Quebec's goal were merely to save children from religious and cultural ignorance, it would tolerate a diversity of methods for achieving that goal. But no such tolerance has been extended to Loyola High School, a private Catholic school in Montreal. Its curriculum already included information about the world's other major religions, but in keeping with its mission and values, Loyola teaches its students that Roman Catholicism is actually true and ought to be adhered to. Quebec says such instruction is unacceptable because it is not "even-handed."
Since virtually every religion and moral code includes as one of its tenets a belief in its superiority over rival systems (or else why adhere to it?), Quebec's insistence on even-handedness is tantamount to compelling every teacher of religion or morality to deny or contradict some part of his creed. Why should teachers be forced into such hypocrisy in a country whose constitution -- in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression?
A recent ruling by the Quebec Superior Court upheld the right of the Prov Govt to mandate the teaching of Ethics and Religion – That in itself is fine and I do agree but teaching that all are the same – equal and correct is a violation of freedom of religious belief or the freedom to not believe – My opinion-
Teaching about other religions and their ethics and moral codes is fine but it cannot interfere with ones own belief or non belief – Difficult to achieve – Yes – Impossible No –
Trudeau once stated that the Govt has no role in the bedroom – Well that applies more so to Religion.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1991010
What could possibly be wrong with children gaining a general knowledge of the world's major religions and the differences among them?
Plenty, if the government requires that children be taught that all religions, and all non-religious moral codes, have equal merit.
If Quebec's goal were merely to save children from religious and cultural ignorance, it would tolerate a diversity of methods for achieving that goal. But no such tolerance has been extended to Loyola High School, a private Catholic school in Montreal. Its curriculum already included information about the world's other major religions, but in keeping with its mission and values, Loyola teaches its students that Roman Catholicism is actually true and ought to be adhered to. Quebec says such instruction is unacceptable because it is not "even-handed."
Since virtually every religion and moral code includes as one of its tenets a belief in its superiority over rival systems (or else why adhere to it?), Quebec's insistence on even-handedness is tantamount to compelling every teacher of religion or morality to deny or contradict some part of his creed. Why should teachers be forced into such hypocrisy in a country whose constitution -- in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression?
