Religious Diversity and Multiculturalism
There is a debate going on in England and other Western European countries and which has relevance to Canadian policy on multiculturalism about the ways in which various religious beliefs can co-exist and whether these countries have gone too far to accommodate religious beliefs that are diametrically opposed to the Christian and other mainstream Western religious beliefs.
Religion, unlike dress or food or music is at the heart of many people, especially newcomers – their religious faith sustains them in a new land. Our religious beliefs are at the core of who we are and many see adhering to religious doctrine as even more important than adhering to the law of a country. This can sometimes be quite problematic.
Canadian multiculturalism policy provides an open door to a potpourri of ideas including religious pluralism and it has done this in a safe and honorable manner. There have always been religious and cultural groups that have kept themselves apart and practiced their way of life separate and apart from the mainstream e.g. the Mennonite, Hutterites, First nations communities etc. These however co-existed very well. I never heard of a case where a traditional Hutterite fought human rights to wear their particular outfit as the Muslims, Sikhs and Aboriginal members have done but these are the days of human rights and there is access to these rights and people are encouraged to access their human rights which perhaps was not as well known or in vogue in yesteryear.
However, since 911 and the fact that British grown Muslim youths carried out some serious terrorist activities, the British people have begun to question whether their liberalism in terms of cultural freedoms were too extreme, whether it served the British to have people keep their own customs and religious beliefs that kept them outside of the mainstream of British society rather than to insist on total integration and not make religious allowances within the law.
In the Canadian media recently, the Weekend Show host challenged Canadians to debate this topic in the open because he feels it is only a matter of time that this question will appear at our collective door.
Is Canadian multiculturalism good for Canada? Is it a benefit that Canadians are encouraged to live their separate lives maintaining customs as if they were still living in their native land and create parallel, insular communities rather than creating a unified integrated society with strong Canadian ties and common values that bind us together and create a real sense of unity within this diversity.
