The Québéc government’s Charter of Values proposal is earning the province ridicule. Premier Pauline Marois and her Parti Québécois government think it will make francophones in the province hunker down and blame everything on the rest of Canada.
But it is their own supporters who are making out the péquistes to be fools. In inviting people who are ignorant and bigoted to give testimony in support of the charter, they are building the case against themselves. In a testimony by a man and his wife the other day, the couple brought into sharp focus the need for Quebecers to learn more about other religions and customs.
The woman argued against having to take off her shoes before entering a mosque in Morocco. When she finally agreed and was allowed to enter, she was aghast to find people praying on their hands and knees on carpets. She was appalled at this way of praying and used it as an example to explain her desire to deny others their rights to religious freedom.
The woman did not indicate, while speaking in French, whether or not she had grown up Catholic in the predominantly Catholic province. If she had seen a Rite of Ordination in a Catholic Diocese, would she have been equally appalled at the sight of candidates for the priesthood lying prostrate on the floor before the alter during the chanting of the Litany?
Maybe our federal government should subject people intending to travel abroad to a written test before issuing a passport. This would help to ensure that they do not embarrass Canadians with their ignorance. At a minimum, fools should be forbade to visit places of worship that they do not wish to try to understand.
The funniest part of this testimony was the husband who testified that he had his pockets picked while visiting a Morrocan souk. While he claimed that it was two people with their faces and bodies covered, it is more likely these people had a different objective in mind for him. No self-respecting Moroccan pickpocket would ever be noticed relieving you of your wallet. Here again, the gentleman would have benefitted from some advice before visiting a market in that country.
It is nice to see that Quebecers can also hit it big on UTube. The clip of the couple’s appearance before the Commission studying the Charter of Values has already been seen by many thousands. It is not really how our friends in Québéc want to be known.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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