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freedom of religion
The Tory leader was pressed about his pledge to defend religious freedoms abroad.
When it comes to standing up for gay rights, corporate outrage is rather selective. Large companies that have publicly denounced new laws in several southern U.S. states as "anti-gay" are quite happy to remain silent as they carry on business in countries that criminalize gay sex.
The Law Society of Upper Canada -- now with the Court's approval -- won't recognize TWU's law degree solely because the person who earned that degree decided, while studying law, to join others in a religious community where people share a personal commitment to traditional marriage. Lawyers have the freedom to advocate for, and practice, their moral beliefs about sexuality. This reflects a basic respect for fundamental Charter freedoms. So why should it be any different for those seeking to enter the legal profession?
The Supreme Court of Canada has decided that Loyola High School, a private Catholic high school for boys in Quebec, should be permitted to teach a portion of the province's mandated Ethics and Religious Culture course from a Catholic perspective. Compelling parents to do to their children that which they deeply oppose is immoral, even if most of us believe that the state's goals are wise and right.
In so many cases, throughout the world, we are fighting enemies that are acting in ways that we find to be totally reflective of evil. The further problem, though, is that these groups actually believe themselves, in their behaviour, to be the virtues of good.
Canadian atheists are often confronted by misinformation about their right to freedom from religion. To coerce someone to follow a religion is to deny that person freedom of religion. If that person is a non-believer, freedom of religion then means the right to not believe-freedom from religion.
Let's call Bill 60 what it truly is: a bill that encourages intolerance, divides the population and makes visible and religious minorities into second class citizens in their own home. It is time for the opposition to step up and stop this nonsense. Until then I remain Canadian, Quebecker, a visibly practicing Muslim and proud.
I understand the importance of free thought and the necessity for societies to allow for variant perceptions on God including atheism. It is for this reason that I, as a religious person, strongly advocate for freedom of religion and decry these nations who persecute those who, in the process of thought, arrive at different perspectives.
