Quebec Parents Don't Want Children Learning about Other Religions

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/02/25/que-judge-ruling-religious-course.html

Here’s a difficult problem for the separation of the Church and State.

“The Quebec Court of Appeal has refused to hear the case of two Drummondville parents who want their children exempted from a mandatory religion and ethics course.

Judge Yves-Marie Morissette ruled Thursday that the court would not hear the case because the parents in question have already found a solution.

The Catholic parents have argued the course, which is compulsory in public schools and in some private schools across the province, represents an infringement on their freedom of conscience and religion.

They said the course, which covers religions around the world, including Judaism and aboriginal spirituality, threatens their Christian beliefs.”

Are mandatory courses on religion infringing on the rights of the family to be free from religion or should the parents accept the fact that if they are going to put their children into a publicly funded school that they should follow the will of the public?

I’m not familiar with the contents of the course though it would seem to me that simply teaching about the religions is a lot different from preaching them as truth. I want to understand the parent’s reasoning behind saying that this education will threaten their Christian beliefs. They need to show how this will negatively affect their faith. I remember when I was young and still believed in the Christian faith. I did not take the education I received regarding the Egyptian gods to be a threat to my faith nor did my parents. Personally, I have no problem with religion being taught in school as long as it is taught through an educational perspective and is noted as being myths that have not been proven by science. I also doubt the parents would be opposed to a mandatory course on Catholicism.

“One of their children has gone on to attend CEGEP, and the other is now enrolled in a private school.

In his decision, Judge Morissette wrote that the child in the private school is no longer obligated to follow the religion and ethics course.

Well, we ended up in a situation where you have more rights if you have more money," Côté told CBC News.”

If parents want their children to receive an education in line with their own beliefs (what about the children’s beliefs?), then they should send them to a public school. Concerning though it may be that only the wealthy will have this option it misses another point that I mentioned earlier, what if the only religion course was a mandatory course on Catholicism? I believe in a black and white solution to this issue. Either provide an education that covers religions around the world or cover none at all. Those who are opposed to the first option on the ground that it threatens their own religious beliefs are only fostering ignorance in their children. We live in a global society and parents should recognize the importance of educating children on the fact that the people of the world hold many different beliefs. We do not have to teach these beliefs as truth but they must be given acknowledgement.