God kicked out of City Hall: Supreme Court Ruling

[I am Canadian]

The Supreme Court of Canada just ruled that a prayer as no place at City Council Meetings, which are supposed to be secular gatherings.

http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-cs ... 8/index.do

Do you agree with the decision, or not?

[jimmy4321]

I agree with it who needs it in City Hall lol but it just feeds the underdog Christian thing they like to preach, things will get worse.

[I am Canadian]

From the Globe & Mail:

The Supreme Court has ruled that a Quebec town must stop reciting a prayer at the start of city council meetings, in a ruling that spells out the limits on faith in the public sphere in Canada.

The court decision comes down against the city of Saguenay, whose mayor, Jean Tremblay, began council meetings with a prayer. The case was sparked after a non-believing citizen complained.

The Supreme Court of Canada says the government has the right to order the destruction of Quebec's federal gun registry data. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says enough gun registries already exist in Canada.

“The recitation of the prayer at the council’s meetings was above all else a use by the council of public powers to manifest and profess one religion to the exclusion of all others,” the Supreme Court ruling reads. “A neutral public space free from coercion, pressure and judgment on the part of public authorities in matters of spirituality is intended to protect every person’s freedom and dignity, and it helps preserve and promote the multicultural nature of Canadian society.”

The judgment ends a nine-year legal saga that became a flashpoint over religion, individual rights and the responsibilities of elected leaders in matters of faith.

Wednesday’s ruling will have an impact in dozens of cities and towns across Canada that engage in the practice of reciting a prayer before the start of council meetings.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e23966290/

[django]

Reminds me of elementary school in the kootenays, having the "Lord's Prayer" rammed down our throats every single friggin day. Can I sue somebody for that, still makes me angry thinking about it. Oh, if you didn't wish to be a part of it you got to go stand in the hallway with the rest of the devils children.

[Glacier]

The poor guy gets $30,000 in damages. Sure beats the South Park Wheel Of Fortune attempt at $30,000.

[Tacklewasher]

Do you agree with the decision?

Yup.

[logicalview]

Reminds me of elementary school in the kootenays, having the "Lord's Prayer" rammed down our throats every single friggin day. Can I sue somebody for that, still makes me angry thinking about it. Oh, if you didn't wish to be a part of it you got to go stand in the hallway with the rest of the devils children.

So are you against all prayer in schools? Because in Ontario, it's back.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/17/mu ... igh-school

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/t ... -1.1104775

A rally held to recognize the Toronto District School Board for allowing rights and freedoms turned into a shouting match Saturday between religious groups.

Two sides squared off outside Toronto District School Board headquarters Saturday over religious prayer in classrooms. (Kimberley Gale/CBC)

About 200 people squared off outside the Toronto District School Board's head office, concerned about Muslim prayer in the city's public schools.

Groups including the Jewish Defence League of Canada, the Canadian Hindu Advocacy and the Christian Heritage Group, are upset that a middle school in the city's north end has provided Muslim students cafeteria space for a weekly prayer service, saying the board showed favouritism to Islam.

Chris Andrewsen who organized what was supposed to be a day of appreciation for the TDSB, said they should be allowed to express their beliefs.

"If we are religious people then we should be allowed to express that. It's not an imposition on other people," Andrewsen said.

But some opponents say allowing students to pray on school property goes against the school board's policy that schools should be a place of study free from cultural or religious influence. While others say the right should be left open to all groups.

"We want respect for all religions. We want the Toronto District School Board to be consistent and stop discriminating [against] one religion over others," said Tony Costa, who is part of a multi-faith coalition opposed to Islamic prayer services in public schools.

Despite the opposition, school board officials say they will continue to allow the prayer inside the school.

[Glacier]

Don't forget, logicalview, that leftists are only against Christian prayer. Muslims are a minority, so if someone tries to stop a Muslim from praying in school, leftist groups will fight to award the poor Muslim $30,000 for discrimination.

[logicalview]

Don't forget, logicalview, that leftists are only against Christian prayer. Muslims are a minority, so if someone tries to stop a Muslim from praying in school, leftist groups will fight to award the poor Muslim $30,000 for damages.

Right. Tongue was firmly planted in cheek.

[driveangry]

Religion should be kept in the privacy of your own home or your church.

[Tacklewasher]

Religion should be kept in the privacy of your own home or your church.

Seems a bit extreme. Don't use public funds and don't try to make participation compulsary. Also don't impose on the rights of others.

[logicalview]

Religion should be kept in the privacy of your own home or your church.

And yet the Muslim prayer in schools is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Christian, Hindu or Jewish prayer? Not so much.

Allah in the Cafeteria: Inside the school prayer scandal at Valley Park Middle School

When the principal at Valley Park Middle School allowed 400 Muslim students to pray in the lunchroom, he thought he was being progressive. What he got was a scandal—over the preaching of conservative Islam and the separation of girls from boys—that’s testing the TDSB’s policy of religious accommodation.

Stefanoff was dumbfounded by the controversy over the prayers when it began last summer. He assured me that the school isn’t teaching religion and no students are pressured to attend. The school is simply providing the space, and the administration doesn’t have anything to do with the prayer itself. He blames the controversy on a little-known organization called Canadian Hindu Advocacy, and the group’s director, Ron Banerjee.

Banerjee claims the TDSB bends over backwards to accommodate Muslims above all other groups, and he has been criticized as an Islamophobe for saying so. When I asked him if he considers himself Islamophobic, he became annoyed but didn’t deny it. (There’s enough evidence of his contempt for Muslims in a video posted in 2010 on the CHA website. “In its entire history,” he says, “the Islamic civilization has invented and contributed less to human advancement than a pack of donkeys.”)

Banerjee encouraged the parents to ask Stefanoff to stop the prayers, but he doesn’t know if any of them followed through. After the Sun story appeared, he sent an email to the TDSB expressing his concerns about the prayers. A month later, he received a reply from the TDSB stating that the prayers were not inappropriate and reiterating the board’s policy of religious accommodation.

http://www.torontolife.com/informer/fea ... feteria/3/

[the truth]

there muslims, its ok then ?????? just no one else

[Ken7]

Religion should be kept in the privacy of your own home or your church.

You don't like them knocking on your door?? I'm with you and agree 100%. I always step back one step when I'm told "I'm a Christian." I had a neighbor who told me he was, all I'll say is glad he moved!

[jimmy4321]

You can pray in your car at lunch or in the bathroom.
They were probably only praying for a short day at the office anyways.