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Allowing Prayer sessions during school time

Ideally religion has absolutely no place with any kind of government agency, except that its free worship on private property or place of worship is protected.
 
Maybe we should just ban all religious symbols like France has. A little secularity never hurt anyone.
 
nfitz said:
I'm disgusted that people only seem to really get their back up when we such accommodations for Muslims, and ignore that there have been accommodations for other groups in Ontario over the years (even ignoring the Constitionally-protected Catholics).

So why react to Muslims, when Islam is equal to Christianity?
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I don't see it as a reaction against muslims. I see it as a reaction against increasing/encroaching religion within collective secular spaces. The muslims are a newer community here in Canada and if anything their establishment here just makes us question our beliefs and how we want our society to be structured, as new groups did in the past and as new ones to come will in the future. It also shines a light on the already existing hypocrisies in and failures of our system. This is a good thing, no? There is absolutely no need that this should devolve into tirades for or against secularity, religion or any particular religious group. These are red herrings which only serves to cloud the issues and compromise the debate.
 
nfitz said:
Perhaps a better example would be a comparison to the School's Dungeons and Dragons club ... or some other fictional activity ... Drama perhaps?

But that's part of the issue ... Jews get to take off their religious holidays. Perhaps the solution is giving Muslims Friday's off. Or maybe we make everyone go to school/work on Fridays through Sundays, and to be equal we give everyone Tuesday and Wednesday off ...

Yes, that's it. Give everyone Tuesday or Wednesday off. I can't see how anyone would possibly object to that ... doesn't matter which days one get's off, does it.
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Not only would it be more neutral, but religious people would have a better outcome from praying on Tuesday or Wednesday as well. Praying on the sabbath day is useless because that is god's day off.
 
nfitz
I think thats part of the issue is when there is event to do with christian events they should not be allowed the events have to be all inclusive of other religions yet when muslims want to have a pray room thats great and thats part of the charter so its clear there is a double standard going on in some cases and thats what people are fed up with.
 
^ War on Christmas dun dun dun...

Are you sure that it has to be inclusive. To prove that, you have to find an instance where a group tried to do an exclusive Christmas function, but, was denied.

The truth is probably that it is made all-inclusive because the whole school is involved.
 
Yes there has been cases where christmas partys had to be changed to holiday partys to be inclusive maybe its a good thing but this is why people get fed up.
 
reidjr2010 said:
Yes there has been cases where christmas partys had to be changed to holiday partys to be inclusive maybe its a good thing but this is why people get fed up.
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And when has anyone been legally required to do this ... seems more something some mid-level bureaucrat would do, because they don't understand.

Not that I see what the heck Christmas has to do with religion ... while some people do celebrate some religious aspects during it, the only religious aspect for most is the name.

Do we also rename Saturday for those of us who don't worship the great God Saturn? Or Wednesday, for those who don't worship the God Odin (aka Wodanaz).
 
I would not say its legally but more and more schools do this to appease people who feel offended and i do think they beleave there doing the right thing.Chirstmas is a big deal for a lot of people and it does have a fair amount to do with religion just as many other holidays mean to people of other religions.
 
reidjr2010 said:
I would not say its legally but more and more schools do this to appease people who feel offended and i do think they beleave there doing the right thing.
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So ... tell them to stop. As a non-Christian, I'm hugely offended by trying to ignore a primarily secular holiday. If the Christians would play the common-sense and secular angle, rather than just looking like biogts, this wouldn't be an issue.

reidjr2010 said:
Chirstmas is a big deal for a lot of people and it does have a fair amount to do with religion just as many other holidays mean to people of other religions.
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Well, that's their problem isn't it ... if people choose to screw up a perfectly fine holiday with religious bs that's their choice I suppose ... but many people are brought up without any religious aspects to what is primarily a secular holiday.
 
Christmas is ingrained in Canadian culture as is Easter and many other holidays that were once largely religious. It's sort of part of the secular tradition here too so it's a little problematic to simply toss it aside for being non-inclusive. I mean just how religious is the Toronto Santa Claus Parade for example? So I find it a little overwraught to get ruffled about Christmas Trees and so on... and in this sense I do believe some of these holidays can be celebrated in a public school system in a ways that isn't religious and this is probably what we should be doing.... and in a way I think that Nfitz is right in that is it really all that different for many of us singing a christmas carol in December as it is to a modern-day Greek student reading the myths of ancient Greece. Just because it is part of the past and part of the culture doesn't mean that it defines some overarching religious ethos.
 
We are told that these students MUST pray at a given time, it is just a question of where. Now that school is out should we expect to see a flood of at least 400 grade school age kids marching into the local Mosque today for compulsary worship services at 1:00 pm (or whatever time it was).

It seems that less than perfect attendance would damage their case.
 
spider said:
Now that school is out should we expect to see a flood of at least 400 grade school age kids marching into the local Mosque today for compulsary worship services at 1:00 pm (or whatever time it was).
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The prayer sessions only ran from November through March.
 
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