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All fredoms are equal, but...
To paraphrase George Orwell's famous line in Animal Farm: "All freedoms are equal, but some are more equal than others."
That would appear to be the message coming from the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper with his announcement this week of the staffing of the Office of Religious Freedom, a new section of the Foreign Affairs Department.
Addressing a gathering at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at mosque in Vaughan on Tuesday, Mr. Harper recited a list of countries where religious persecution takes place and vowed that "in the face of these injustices and atrocities, Canada will not be silent". To that end, the Office of Religious Freedom, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Bennett, "will monitor religious freedom around the world."
There are a number of troubling aspects to the formation of this new government department.
Firstly, if the idea is to raise Canada's voice in opposition to religious intolerance in the world, one would think Dr. Bennett would monitor religious oppression, not religious freedom.
Secondly, with the possible exception of China, in most countries where there is religious persecution, it is usually carried out by one religion over others, or even one sect over others. Witness the recent past in Northern Ireland, with the bitter fighting between Catholics and Protestants, and the ongoing persecution of Shi'ite Muslims by Sunni Muslims in the Middle East. If people are so moved by their belief in their religion - or even their particular branch of a religion - that it allows them to persecute those with different beliefs, what makes the prime minister think they will listen to Canada's protests?
If Mr. Harper is intent on promoting freedom of religion, perhaps he should look in his own backyard. For years, there has been a community of polygamists in British Columbia whose religion allows a man to have many wives. However, Canada has laws against polygamy, so those who believe in the practice as part of their religion are denied. What about their freedom to hold their own religious beliefs?
Let's return to the paraphrased Orwell quote: Mr. Harper says Canada will not be silent on the subject of religious freedom, noting that: "the freedom to worship according to one’s own conscience . . . is at the root of all of our liberties." We disagree. We would suggest that freedom of thought and freedom of speech are the roots of all our liberties. Without those, how can one be free to practice one's religion? Is Mr. Harper saying the freedom of religion is more important than freedom of speech and thought, freedom of assembly, freedom from slavery, freedom from oppression? Those are basic human rights, recognized by the United Nations. Mr. Harper appears to be telling us that his government will speak out more strongly about religious oppression than the oppression of any other human right.
Another troubling aspect is the appointment of Dr. Bennett as the new ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom. Andrew Bennett is the dean of a small, private Christian college in Ottawa. One might ask if there was no one from the Sikh, Muslim, Jewish or Buddhist communities who could fill the post. But if a Buddhist had been appointed, one could similarly ask were there no Christians available. Whatever the religious beliefs of the person appointed, questions would be raised. However, since most of the religious repression in the world occurs in non-Christian countries, wouldn't a non-Christian ambassador be better received in the world at large? And wouldn’t the appointment of a non-Christian signal the diversity that Mr. Harper so professes to cherish?
We have no trouble with Canada standing up for the basic human rights of every person on this planet. We just don't think religion should have priority.
November 22, 2012
July 14, 2011
