Manitoba school trustee favours tolerance
On December 12, 2006, I voted against a motion to allow for the provision of religious exercise in two schools within the Seine River School Division. It was the same way I have voted on “Petitions for Prayer” motions brought to the School Board on which I serve since the Province introduced the legislation in 1992. As a result of recent media coverage on this issue I have received many inquiries about the issue of prayer in the classroom and why I opposed this motion. The following is what I have been generally providing in response to those inquiries.
Reciting “The Lord’s Prayer” in public schools no longer exists in most jurisdictions in Canada. Most Provinces have recognized that the practice is discriminatory and not in compliance with our rights under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I strongly believe that a person’s religious belief and/or their belief in a Greater Power are fundamental rights of everyone and that those beliefs need to be respected and tolerated by all.
However this is not an issue of religion, but of basic human rights and how we as a society respect the diversity of beliefs that exists in today’s society. Canada is a multicultural society that prides itself on how, amongst other things, we are respectful of the diversity of the religions that are practiced by the citizens of our communities.
I believe reciting “The Lord's Prayer” in a classroom of children is being disrespectful to the 19% of Canadians who do not believe in any God. It is also being disrespectful to the vast population of Canadian's who’s religious beliefs are outside of Christianity, such a Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Native American Spiritualists to name but a few. People of those faiths make up as much as 16% of Canada's population according to a recent survey commissioned by the Winnipeg Sun and reported in the January 18, 2007 Winnipeg Sun. That same survey indicates 21% of the Canadian population consider themselves atheists. There are also many Christian faiths that do not use the Lord's Prayer as their prayer, or believe that prayer should be a personal matter. We have families from all of those communities in our schools. I do not believe a school should participate in or be the tool used to indoctrinate children into a religious belief that they may not subscribe to or understand. That is not the school's role and if we do that, we are being disrespectful and intolerant of their faith and beliefs. A tolerant and respectful society should not attempt to impose the religious beliefs of the majority on the minority.
The present Manitoba Public Schools Act directs that if a School Board receives a petition requesting religious exercise from parents of at least sixty children, or seventy-five percent of the school’s student population in schools with a student population of less than eighty; that the School Board shall pass a motion to approve the religious exercises during school year for the children whose parents have petitioned. What some, but not all, schools in Seine River School Division had been doing when those petitions were received and approved by the Board, was to broadcast “The Lord’s Prayer” over the PA. Unfortunately, in so doing, the school was also providing the “religious exercise” to all of its students including those children whose parents did not request “The Lords Prayer”. That was neither in compliance with the Act nor in compliance with the motion that the Board passed on the matter. As a result of recent dialogue within the Division that practice has stopped
The only real way for a school to comply with the Act, and the practice of most schools when they receive a petition, is also problematic. That is to segregate the children by either removing those children whose parents petitioned for prayer from the class; or to remove the children who were not named in the petition from the class. I am sure you can understand the problems that can occur when children are singled out; bullying, teasing and ridicule often are the result.
Consider if this situation were reversed and children of Christian parents had to participate in the recitation of a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Muslim prayer in our Public Schools, or in the alternative, be removed from the classroom while that occurred. I believe most Christian parents would concerned about that, and rightly so. People’s views on an issue can differ greatly when the issue does not impact on them negatively
In summation, I opposed the motion passed by the Board on December 12, 2006, to allow religious exercise in two of its schools for the following reasons: - I believe Prayer in school is contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. - Public Schools should be secular; they are not churches and should not promote any religion, let alone one over all others. Children as young as four years old attend our schools; they are extremely impressionable. I find it hard to believe that any parent would entrust something as important as the instilling of religious beliefs into their young child by individuals or institutions that may have beliefs which could be inconsistent with, or contrary to, their own religious beliefs. - A parent who wishes to instill religious beliefs within their children should do so in their home and/or through their place of worship and/or through a private religious school. Currently only 21% of Canadians regularly attend a place of worship. It would appear that many parents are seeking the Public School system to provide the religious instruction for their children rather than taking them to a place of worship on a regular basis themselves. It’s not the school’s job, nor its role to be the spiritual leader of your children. -
The current legislation in Manitoba attempts to still provide the opportunity for religious instruction in school if parents want it. At the same time the legislation recognizes that not all parents have the same religious beliefs or wish their children to participate in prayer at school. Unfortunately it cannot be applied in schools without creating discriminatory and/or damaging results for some of the children in our schools by singling them out and removing them from the classroom. Teachers and school administration are faced with the unenviable task of trying to make a flawed process work without harm to their students or disruption to the school. - I believe respecting the beliefs of a local people or group is important. However, in so doing we must ensure that we are not being disrespectful to, or trampling on the rights and beliefs of, others. We live in a pluralist society where many beliefs exist with regard to the matter of religion. Schools cannot be the vehicle to impose the beliefs of a larger group onto the children of families who do not hold those beliefs. That is contrary to what I believe in, the values of Seine River School Division and inconsistent with the respectful kind of climate this Division has strived to create, and that I support.
Thank you for all of those who took the time to correspond with me and for sharing their views on this issue. I hope my rather lengthy dissertation can encourage more healthy debate and understanding on this issue.
Yours truly, Gary Nelson Trustee, Seine River School Division