One small step for secularism, not a giant one for dignity.

«The time has come to rally around our common values. They define who we are. Let's be proud of them.» says Bernard Drainville, Parti Québécois minister for democratic institutions. These are revelant arguments in favor of the new Quebec  Chart of Values, project recently announced by the Marois governement.

Whoa ! A little too fast ? Let me explain you the facts:

 

I live in Quebec: a free bilingual and multicultural nation into the enormous country of Canada. We are proud of our province and of our culture. The majority of the people from Quebec are open-minded and welcome every immigrant who wants to come live in our society.

 But some of us don't: some of us even hate whoever is not dressed as them, has not the same skin or the same religion. Personally, I assign those people to the shame of our nation, but let's stay on the subject.

 

 The new Chart of Values goal is to get rid of the link between religious signs in the State. So every employe who works for Quebec in public institutes must look for a religious neutrality in their clothes, dialogs and mentality. The Chart will bring up a huge difference between being at home and being in public places: if you are an islamic nurse for example, you have to keep your Shahada and your Hijab at home.

 

This project really challenges the ethic of the governement and questions the indentity and the freedom of each Citizen of the nation. It is a true moral crisis, but not only in Quebec, in the entire World ! In our actual times, there are so many different cultures on the planet and with that come too many different points of view about the mondialisation.

 Democracy operates and developp each person's liberty of expression, unlike dictatorship, but democracy leads to tolerance and tolerance leads to concession. What can we let go for others and what can we earn from other cultures and religions ? It's really a blurred area because we don't know the extreme limits of the culture mondialisation.

 

 

I firmly think that our beliefs and our spirituality is a fondemental right and an individual freedom. If Quebec accepts newcomers, we have to accept them in who they are, not in who we want them to be. This is the main reason that I think that, unless human's fondemental rights (decieded by the ONU in 1948) are not broken or threathened, religious rituals can be tolerated. This being said, my opinion is in the respect of all and if the wearing of religious symbols can go into this visionnary way, there's no problem about it.  

 

To conclude, I feel that State officials can wear whatever they want, unless it is safe and respectful for all. I'm not in favor of the new Chart of Values and instead of it, I think that dignity offencers needs to be operate indivudually.