Freedom from religion - breaking the great taboo
A letter in the Irish Times (Wednesday, September 12, 2001) started me thinking:
"My daughter had a wonderful time last week walking to her first day of high school with her friends. Her father is the son of an Irish Catholic born on Wolfe Tone Street (formerly Stafford Street) in Dublin; her mother is the granddaughter of Presbyterian shipyard workers from Belfast and Glasgow. We watched proudly as she left for school with her friends. The ancestry of these children included Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Aboriginal Australian, East Indian, and African American. Their religions included Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Sikh. We are lucky in our neighbourhood, I suppose, because our children don't see skin colour or a religious sect in their neighbours; they just see a person like themselves.
How has Canada accomplished this? It was not always as it is today. Fifty years ago, when my father came to Canada, the same level of intolerance existed here as in Ireland. Since that time, we have embraced immigration from around the world; it has built our country. We embraced multiculturalism and have made it part of our national policy. We guaranteed the rights of minorities and women in our constitution. We recognise the separation of church and state in our constitution while guaranteeing freedom of religion. We have made the promotion of racial and religious hatred a criminal act. Most importantly, the majority of our children go to public schools, where they learn to live, work, and play with people of all colours, cultures, and religions.
You come together by living together, not by living apart. You build by looking to the future, not dwelling on the past. Invest in a strong public school system, which does not include religion in the curriculum, and bring children of all backgrounds together. By doing so, you may be surprised at what the children can teach the parents and politicians about tolerance, respect, peace, friendship, and love."
- Yours, etc., KEVIN MURRAY, East 58th Avenue, Vancouver, Canada.
Every school where children are taught that suicide for the cause transports you instantly to Paradise is a "terrorist training camp".
(1) (Q) What do Islamic and Irish terrorists have in common?
(A) Their religions tell them that they have a monopoly on the TRUTH.
There is a great taboo in the modern world. "Religion" must not be criticised. To be politically correct, the tenets of a "faith" must not be questioned. Even if these tenets contain elements that condone violence against those who are not of the same faith; even if these tenets perpetuate the subjugation of women.
(2) Every school where children are taught that suicide for the cause transports you instantly to Paradise is a "terrorist training camp".
(3) Teaching religious doctrine that, by justifying them, encourages people to engage in actions that violate the human rights of others (including, in the case of Islam, the subjugation of women, the violent treatment of 'infidels') in a school curriculum transmits generationally the hatred that causes terrorism.
(4) In mono-cultural countries where education is compulsory, and the doctrine of that one religion pervades the curriculum, this can mean that "indoctrination" is compulsory. Children have no choice but to go along with the prevailing culture.
The Catholic Convent school I attended in the United States reserved the teaching of religious doctrine to catechism classes attended only by Catholics, who made up less than half of the student population. Otherwise, the curriculum was careful not to mention religious doctrine. The world history books used in that school did not stress a particularly Christian interpretation of events - the parents of Jewish children (and others) would have complained.
CHILDREN HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE TAUGHT TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES, SO THAT, WHEN PRESENTED WITH THE FACTS, THEY CAN MAKE UP THEIR OWN MINDS.
To stop terrorism being transmitted through the generations:
Teaching ANY religion in a school funded by ANY State should be banned.
Teaching human rights should be compulsory in all schools.
Parochial schools should teach religion only to students who request this teaching, and the curriculum should not be biased towards any religion.
Debra James
Page last modified February 18, 2003