France and its experience with secularity laws
Via Toula Drimonis, a Globe & Mail op-ed from a writer well versed in France’s secularity laws and their effects. “Rather than repel the demands of the far right, laws prohibiting religious coverings in France have only emboldened them.”
Education minister Jean-François Roberge is blowing off concerns from the CSDM saying that applying the law shouldn’t cause it aaaaaaany trouble at all.
Hamza 00:44 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
Can the government or any of its supporters produce examples of religious persons prosletyzing to their students, who *weren’t* Christian in Quebec?
dwgs 08:14 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
A few years ago my son got in trouble in class for talking about zombies eating people. Fair enough. He came home two weeks later traumatized by the same teacher’s lengthy and detailed description of the crucifixion of Christ (it was Easter), including a grisly account of the nails being driven, the spear wound in the abdomen, slow agonizing death and the (zombielike) resurrection. 🙂
Kate 12:43 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
I never experienced that, but a friend of mine got the whole story, and – get this – it was from a woman with a scarf over her head! For religious purposes!
The teacher was a nun.
Ian 13:18 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
My kids got indoctrinated into the angels and Jesus stuff as early as garderie, I made sure to tell them about vampires, ghosts, the Norse Gods, Leprechauns, and Solstice celebrations that they could bring back to their class, just for balance.
This year one of my daughter’s friends informed her that he doesn’t believe in Santa but he does believe in Moses. He’s Jewish. Wasn’t too sure what to do with that. I told him that people can believe what they want but if you don’t believe in Santa then yeah, all your presents come from your parents because Santa won’t bring anything to children that don’t believe in him – and we always get presents from Santa.
TBH my kids only learned about religions because of the mandatory ERC classes in school, I wish they had a segment on atheism and humanism, but they don’t and aren’t open to it.
Chris 20:50 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
Kate, interestingly, when I first read your summary/quote I parsed “far right” as “Islamists”. (I suspect they too are emboldened by these kinds of bans. It no doubt makes great propaganda for ISIS types.) It’s an interesting thing about this whole topic: it’s the religious right pushing veiling, and it’s the (Western) right that’s most against it.
Michael Black 21:19 on 2019-06-27 Permalink
I remember grade one abiut 1966 at tge PSBGM, and we began the day with hymns. I don’t remember them after that. I never sang, just mouthed the words to avoid trouble. Religion was never part if family life, so I coukdn’t be influenced. Sure I know bible stories, but more like proverhs or something, not real history. They are colorful, Noah’s Ark is a good story, but I never saw it as other like the story of the Trojan Horse.
Michael