Yes, boys ‘n’ girls, Tea-baggin’ Tommy is on another rant, once again, getting it all wrong, on his show on CJAD this fine morning. This morning’s topic is how the Quebec government is enforcing a law regarding religion of any kind being taught in government subsidized day cares. Naturally, dear ol’ Tommy, who appears to have discovered religion late in his life, is just hysterical, hysterical! I tell you, going on about how the government is now too intrusive. Oh dear! Imagine! The government setting guide lines about what shouldn’t be taught in a day care that is subsidized by the tax payers! Oh the horrors!
It all starts with the Gang of Four, or as a friend of mine likes to call it, “The red meat fest”, starring Anne Lagace Dowson, the sports caster, Rick Moffat and a guest appearance from Newstalk 1010′s morning man, John Moore, phoning in his two cents. While Anne and Rick offered the more moderated stance of teaching the children about all world religions and cultures, which I’m not against, entirely, I believe that is too much for toddlers who are two, three or even five years old. I think John Moore was the winner here, with his absolute agreement with what the Quebec government is doing here, no religion being taught at a government subsidized day care. It is that simple, religion has no place in a government subsidized day-care and with the exception of perhaps a course being offered, teaching the basics of world religions in public schools, later, in higher grades, when a kid is old enough to grasp the material, but not before.
Essentially, the Quebec government doesn’t want one religion in a day care being imposed on the other children who may or may not follow that particular religion being taught. Sounds reasonable to me. Tommy is on a tangent, basically saying that “Atheism is being forced down the kiddies throats!” As though that is very evul. Well, Tommy, is that such a bad thing? I know a lot of Atheist people, many of whom are some of the most compassionate and tolerant people you’ll ever meet. But I digress. That is neither here nor there for the purposes of this post. Nobody is enforcing Atheism, neither. The government is not instructing child care workers to teach that there is no God, which is the general belief of Atheism. The government is simply promoting secularism. There is a difference.
With the many different religions Canadians practice these days, secularism is the only solution. I have noticed that more often than not, when talking to a cleric of any denomination, or attending any function with a religious theme, they all tend to preach that their doctrine is the only one that is correct and absolute. That could be confusing to many adults, let alone a small child. Many (not all) even frown upon any of their flock to question their faith. I can only imagine how dismissive one zealot could be if someone outside of their faith dared to question them.
Religion is one of those things that fall under the heading that should be restricted to the home and/or that particular community. If a parent wants a child raised in their religion, then by all means, gawd speed. It should be incumbent on them to teach their children their religion. Have them bring their kids to church/synagogue/mosque It has no place in a government funded day care or a public school.
And dear Tommy is all livid over religion, “secular fundamentalism”, he calls it. Is there even such a term? I doubt it. but I find it is he, who’s outrage is misplaced. If I may go off topic for a moment, I have another question for the old tea-partier of CJAD. How come he isn’t equally as passionate about, say, anti-bullying campaigns in schools? Now here’s something that should be taught to kids at a very young age, say, in a day care? . Bullying is a very real problem in schools these days. In fact, sometimes, it leads some kids to commit suicide. There was a teen who committed suicide due to bullying in the news, recently. Hmmm, not teaching the existance of God is more tragic than than bullying? Tolerance of other children around them and anti-bullying. Teaching them how to behave toward each other. That is far more important than saying grace before eating an apple or telling the child care worker that “Jesus loves me”; those acts certainly won’t prevent bullying, nor would they teach tolerance of others around them, that’s for sure. Speaking of anti-bullying and tolerance, go visit The Tolerance Foundation Site, where Anne Lagace Dowson is now the Director General and President. So, why is Tea-baggin’ Tommy far more ga ga giddy over religion instead of anti-bullying and tolerance? Granted that wasn’t today’s topic, but I would like to see more topics like bullying that is more relevant to today’s society and less about religion.
All that said, the Quebec government is not entirely blameless here. They now have inspectors, visiting day cares, to make sure religion of any kind is not being taught, being paid for, of course by the tax payers. While I believe that the government does have a say in how a subsidized day care is being run, the inspectors are an expense the tax payers can ill-afford, while our infrastructure is crumbling, our universal health care system is badly in need of funding as does public education. No, I see a far simpler and cheaper solution here, for both the parents who are just ga ga giddy for religious indoctrination (or should I say brain washing) of their toddlers in day care and the government. The government should just simply not subsidize day cares with any hint of a religious theme to them. Voila! Parents should realize that they can’t have their cake and eat it too. Day cares held in churches/synagogues/mosques or in parochial schools should already be seen to be obviously teaching religion. Cut the subsidy! If parents want or need to put their kid in a government subsidized day care, then they should realize that this day care will and must follow a government prescribed program. Quid pro quo. If they want a religious themed day care, then pay for it out of their own pockets.
This brings me to my next point. Many in Montreal would remember how Loyola High School, a Jesuit private (or I should say semi-private) school that receives government subsidies, didn’t want to add the now mandatory course of ethics and world religions. As a Jesuit school, it only wanted to teach Catholic doctrine. Many Chassidic and other Jewish private schools in Quebec are also subsidized, as are other parochial schools of other denominations. Stop subsidizing ‘em! That money can be better spent in the public school system. If we’re to promote a secular society, then the government should not spend one dime to subsidize any religious institution.
Another thing it’s high time the Quebec government should do. While promoting a secular society is the way to go, they should lead by example, and follow at least one recommendation from the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on “Reasonable Accommodation”: they should remove the crucifix from the National Assembly.