Fighting for freedom
I have to admit I was surprised to see the human rights decision against the Lord's Prayer in Saguenay, Quebec. Not that I was surprised to see a human rights commission rule that saying the prayer violates human rights. Not at all. I was surprised that a town in Quebec still starts municipal meetings with the Lord's Prayer.
In Ontario, this issue was decided back in 1999 by the Ontario Court of Appeal. The town was Penetanguishene. Henry Freitag, a resident of Penetanguishene, brought a constitutional challenge regarding the mayor's practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer. He did not get any damages but the mayor had to stop a practice that dated back 100 years.
Forced out
The Lord's Prayer had already been forced out of schools in 1988 starting in Sudbury. This again was a constitutional legal challenge and a decision ultimately made by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Courts in other provinces followed Ontario's lead. No more Lord's Prayer in British Columbia or Manitoba. It only survived in Saskatchewan and Alberta because it was enshrined in their constitutional laws.
But Quebec is the most secular province in Canada, or so I thought. Not only has the mayor of Saguenay been reciting the Lord's Prayer but he is unabashedly pushing on with it despite a human rights ruling against him.
These human rights rulings demonstrate the power of one. That is, the power of one person to be offended and to prevent everyone else from doing a perfectly normal and legal activity.
Alain Simoneau, the offended party, could have simply ignored the prayer. He could have stuck his fingers in his ears and sung “la, la, la." Or, it being a democracy, he could have run a campaign against the mayor in the next election.
But he did none of these things. Instead he filed a complaint with a human rights commission. And he was awarded $30,000. That is quite the reward for being offended!
The mayor, Jean Tremblay, did not want to saddle his citizens with tax hikes to cover the costs of the case so he raised funds directly, with a picture of Jesus with His hand outstretched as his motif. So far, he has raised $120,000. More Christian charities might want to try this direct approach.
But more than that, Tremblay told the media, “I am the first mayor in the history of the world to be punished for reciting a prayer." Touché. He is certainly not going down without a fight.
But will he win? Are the Quebec courts likely to be more friendly to Christianity than other parts of Canada?
Anything but friendly
Quebec has been anything but friendly to religion lately, just remember the Bloc Quebecois MP who denounced the prime minister for meeting with evangelical Christians. It is hard to see this case as winnable.
But here is a bigger question: should it be?
There are two schools of thought on issues like public recitation of prayers. Many Christians feel that it is pointless to have public recitation of prayers unless there is real faith behind the prayers.
Others feel that it is an important statement to politicians to be reminded in each meeting that we are accountable to a higher power; namely, God.
Religion is important in society. It provides social cohesion, binding together communities. It encourages ethical behaviour. But religion can only be a positive force when it is not privatized; it needs to be out there in the public square.
Unfortunately, our society is becoming so offence averse that we risk becoming what C.S. Lewis called “men without chests," soul-less.
Good for Tremblay for standing up to the politically correct and fighting for his freedom of religion. Let's all say a prayer for his right to pray in public.
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