In a few weeks the people of Ontario will hit the polls for our provincial election. There are some hot topics this year. Healthcare, electoral reform, taxes - the usual stuff that riles up the public. However this year a major issue has arisen. The Conservative party is promising if elected they will remove the discrimination in public education funding. Right now only public and Catholic schools recieve funding. The Conservatives pledge abolish the old system and make funding availiable to all faith-based schools.
My random rant today doesn't deal with whether or not the Conservative party should fund faith-based schools. I would rather discuss the rising animosity towards Christians and other faith-based groups in the media as a result of this debate. The secularists in the media state that all funding to faith-based schools (including Catholic) should be abolished - there should only be a single public system. This public system they argue should be completely and totally secular - meaning having no affiliation with a particular faith. "After all", the secularists say, "faith has no place in the public square" WHAT? Did I hear that correctly? Last I checked Canada and her provinces were democratic societies. Since we all cannot leave our homes and jobs to participate in the governing process we elect others to perform those duties on our behalf. These elected representatives make laws, impose taxation, protect, maintain transit, monitor the economy, according to the will of the people. Therefore, if the elected are representatives of the people and those people are of faith then that faith MUST be fairly represented in the public square. The philosophy of the separation of church and state is to protect religious groups from state interference not to prevent faith-based groups from having their voices heard in government. Next time you hear someone say that religion has no place in politics, calmly remind them that if they want a secular society that silences all religion they should move to China.
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