A True Catholic

A new program, Ethics and Religious Culture, will be introduced into all schools of Quebec, as of September 2008 and worst of all this program will be imposed. The parents of Quebec lost a fundamental right "the schools’ obligation to respect parents’ beliefs and convictions within their programs", guaranteed to them by Quebec Charter of Rights (section 41). 

    On June 15th 2005 the National Assembly approved, Bill 95 in by which the Ethics and Religious Culture, became compulsory to all children from grade 1 at the elementary through secondary 5. This was done without consulting the body of parents.

    Parents throughout the province are up in arms about the imposition of this new course on their children and adolescents and demand that the government reestablish article 41 of the Quebec Charter of Rights as it was prior to June 15th. 2005, unfortunately the government is intent on going ahead with the program forcing the parents to take the last action left and that is to boycott the program.

    The course of Ethics and Religious Culture includes the main world religions (Catholic,  Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist) as well as native spiritualities, new religious movements and atheist world views. It includes contents dealing with religious feasts, stories, sacred texts, rituals and objects. All religions are treated in the same fashion, often devoid of the transcendent dimension. Some examples of contents given by the ministry of Education (http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/ecr/) are as follows : Id el Fitr, Wesak, Divali, birth of guru Nanak and of Siddharta Gautama, the story of Glouskap and of Nanajobo, the revelation to Muhammad, the Koran, the Bahgavad Gita. The child will also learn names of the “divine” such as Brahma, Shiva et Vishnu, values and norms such as karma, pirquei avot and sunna. The contents dealing with ethics will emphasize the need for tolerance of all points of view. The pedagogy will be through dialogue in the classroom, including debates, wherein the child will be expected to question his values and beliefs in the light of those of the other students and to express whether his own have shifted or not and why.

    On Sunday morning I teach catechism to young children preparing them for the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation, from now I can see myself undoing whatever was done in school instead of passing down my faith, what a waste of precious time.

   One final thing that really bugs me is that young Canadians are presently fighting for democracy in different regions of the world and here in Quebec (a supposedly democratic country) the government removes fundamental rights without informing the general population, this is what I call a beautiful hypocrisy.

    W h a t     is     t h e     g o v e r n m e n t ' s     h i d d e n     a g e n d a ? 

 

Angelo