Think of a number between zero and 20. Add 32 to it. Multiply by 2. Subtract 1. Now close your eyes. It’s dark isn’t it?
It’s silly, I know, but it’s meant to make you laugh and become confused at the same time. Because today I’m going to tell you about some confusing situations. Bear with me as i start with a brief introduction.
Alberta has a wide range of private schools, with some government funding provided to help lower tuition fees. Half of those private schools are secular, and half are religious schools, ranging from non-denominational Christian, Catholic, Islamic and Jewish. These schools are for parents who are looking for a religiously informed education that isn’t available in the public system.
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In 2016, the Alberta’s minister of Education sent letters to all independent schools requiring their school policies to meet their demands or risk being defunded or accreditation being suspended. All schools submitted their policies at that time, but it wasn’t until September of this year that only a few of the Christian schools received a response. That response instructed these schools to remove all references to “God as the true source of wisdom, and the infallibility of Scripture.”
Such tactics would come as no surprise in North Korea or other dictatorships, but is this acceptable in a democracy? Why does a religious school need to remove references to God when parents enrolled their children there so they could learn about God? And who would be offended by the mention of God when parents who don’t want their children exposed to religion are highly unlikely to enrol their child in a religious school?
A contradictory situation took place in 2011 at an Alberta private secular school. This school’s policy states they are “an educational institute where no religious practices are allowed”.
However, two boys reported the school to the human rights tribunal because they weren’t allowed to bow and kneel in prayer, which is mandatory in their Sunni religion. The school founder argued that the school was purposely set up to be secular and had a right to remain secular. However, the court ordered the school to pay a $26,000 fine for discriminatory behaviour.
The founder of this school argued, “We should have the same rights as private religious schools.”
It’s a laughable argument, considering the religious schools I mentioned earlier are being told to eliminate reference to God and the Bible, while this secular institution was fined for not allowing prayer in their school.
If you’re confused, it’s OK, because all of this doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Like someone once said, “If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention.”
At the end of the day, you have to ask, “Does everyone have to believe what the governing powers believe? Doesn’t being forced to do something you believe to be fundamentally wrong seem undemocratic? It’s something to think about.
Joan Janzen is a freelance opinion columnist. You can contact her at [email protected]
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