Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Sikh Student wants right to wear religious dagger in school
I just couldn't make some of this stuff up now could I. The lad (or his parents) wants to wear the dagger to school, known as a kirpan, as it's part of his faith. The school board have said no but it was actually a parents group who brought it up in the first place and rightly so. The parents of the boy have hired a human rights lawyer to take it as far as they feel required. Am I the only one amazed at not only the audacity of this but the absolute foolishness of it all?
I've got a coupla problems with the whole story. The most obvious one since I'm in the blogger here is the religious angle. I don't have a huge problem if you want to practice your religion, I think there are boundaries to that too but in this instance, it's the practice of a completely ceremonial part of a religion that could have dangerous consequences. My second problem is more Archie Bunkerish but let's get real. You come from a country where there's some cultural and religious clashes amongst it's own citizens. Shouldn't you be leaving some of that behind when you migrate to a new country? I think there are some serious problems with the Canadian policy of Multiculturism and this is just one example gone awry. Perhaps that's another windmill to tilt at for another day. Excuse this commercial break, back to more opining.
Next up if something doesn't strike my fancy, some questions for the believers, perhaps someone could even think of some answers ...
I just couldn't make some of this stuff up now could I. The lad (or his parents) wants to wear the dagger to school, known as a kirpan, as it's part of his faith. The school board have said no but it was actually a parents group who brought it up in the first place and rightly so. The parents of the boy have hired a human rights lawyer to take it as far as they feel required. Am I the only one amazed at not only the audacity of this but the absolute foolishness of it all?
I've got a coupla problems with the whole story. The most obvious one since I'm in the blogger here is the religious angle. I don't have a huge problem if you want to practice your religion, I think there are boundaries to that too but in this instance, it's the practice of a completely ceremonial part of a religion that could have dangerous consequences. My second problem is more Archie Bunkerish but let's get real. You come from a country where there's some cultural and religious clashes amongst it's own citizens. Shouldn't you be leaving some of that behind when you migrate to a new country? I think there are some serious problems with the Canadian policy of Multiculturism and this is just one example gone awry. Perhaps that's another windmill to tilt at for another day. Excuse this commercial break, back to more opining.
Next up if something doesn't strike my fancy, some questions for the believers, perhaps someone could even think of some answers ...
