Toronto, Canada - A rally held to recognize the Toronto District School Board for allowing rights and freedoms turned into a shouting match Saturday between religious groups.
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.
Reaction to the story was equally animated in the CBCNews.ca comments section. Some favoured the weekly prayer service at Valley Park Middle School, while others argued against it. Some felt Muslims were given preferential treatment over other faiths, while others said that religion had no place in the public school system.
Here's a sample of comments opposed to prayer in school:
"No prayer or religion in school other than for actual educational purposes. Religion is meant to be a personal thing and should be practised at your place of worship or at home." - Kevin(BrockU)
"Constitutionally, Canada has no religion, although some mistakenly believe we are a Christian nation even though legally that argument has no ground. Let's keep it that way. Allowing prayer in schools leads to proselytization and that is unacceptable." - FactNotFallacy2
"The only way religion should be in schools is through teaching of basic tenets in the context of either a history or social studies class. Otherwise, there should be no trace of it." - Andrew of Richmond
"Religion of any type has no business in public schools.
If Canadians want to practice their religion or teach their religion they can always do it in their own place of worship." - dupcess
Here are some of the comments that were not opposed:
"The TDSB's decision here was fully thought out and took multiple factors into consideration. They even kept it low profile so as to minimize impact on other students. That certain groups felt this decision was unfair is those groups' problem, but now those groups are making a mountain of a molehill." - Arctan
"Why can't you have religion in schools? It is not like the Muslim people are trying to convert anyone. They are holding a prayer service (at lunch, so on the children's own time) in a cafeteria. When I look at the separation of church and state, it does not mean that all talk about religions should stop. I see it as a place where the administration and teachers do not force their religion upon anyone else. In a class of 30 students, not all will be of the same religion. So having a morning prayer, for any religion, is wrong if it includes people from multiple religions." - thebrit02
"If it's paid for separately and held outside of class hours what's the problem? Other groups are obviously free to do the same thing. It's not like it's a part of the curriculum." - ServitiumNulliSecundus
"Above all the school's priority is to educate our children. If Muslim students leaving school to go pray and not coming back after was having a negative impact upon their education, then it is well within the school's responsibility to look at how to fix the problem. Seems like they found a solution, too bad so many people feel the need to make a mountain out of a mole hill." - galium
Among others, KeithToronto suggested that students could learn about several religions to promote tolerance and understanding.
"If you allow one religious group to carry out religious services in the TDSB, you must be open to all. That being said, the schools should set up a religious room where all religious groups have an opportunity to make use of the dedicated space.
It would also be a good idea to have different religious groups come in and speak to all students about their religion to promote understanding and appreciation of other religious beliefs."
As always, we welcome your feedback and discussions.