The Freedom of Conscious

Today the Conservatives, lead by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, launched the “Office of Religious Freedom”.  The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms already protects the Freedom of Conscious and Religion (Source:  http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CH37-4-3-2002E.pdf).   The purpose of this office is vague on the surface... Why, in Canada, a country rivaled for its tolerance of conflicting faiths, do we need such an institution?  Today, the Prime Minister sounded as though the superfluous protection he is offering is intended for other countries.  Er, what?

This presupposes a few fallacies :
1)  That we have an obligation, moral authority, willingness and right to engage in nation building.  Yes, nation building.  We are imposing our "cultural mosaic" onto other cultures and faiths that do not tolerate diversity.
2)  That religion, like our nation, is predicated on the ideals of inclusion (hint:  its not, see above)
3)  That the peoples of the world fit into neat little boxes labeled "Coptic Christian", "Roman Catholic", "Sunni Muslim", etc...
4)  How will these persons be protected?  By what mechanism can we ensure their safety?
 

Not to mention what about those that do not or cannot (shunned/excommunicated) or refuse to (atheist/agnostic) practice religion. Will they be protected?  What about a Christian who converts to Islam, or a Muslim converting to Christianity, how on Earth do you even begin to protect them during and after this conversion? 

There should be no surprise that our Christian-Conservative evangelical Prime Minister is seeking these protects, much like Clinton in the USA.  Evangelical Christians have managed to more than annoy other faiths for millennium as they convert people to their faith.  It is a tennant of their religion to convert others.  Muslims have a similar requirement.  So what happens when these directives clash?  Who is right?  How will a bunch of appointed bureaucrats assist anyone they claim to be set up to help?  The answer:  They can't, and they won't.  This project is doomed to fail, and the Canadian taxpayer would do well to expect that $5M to become as bloated and inflated as the as corrupt theologians abuse the travel requirements and other benefits of the office.  Senate anyone?

Imagine if we spent$5M on something that would actually help people...

Reference:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/02/19/pol-ambassdor-office-religious-freedom-announced.html