This Holiday Season, Let's Be Thankful for Our Religious Freedom

Chris Queen-Opinion : Dec 27, 2021
PJMedia.com

...We should certainly never take it for granted.

[PJMedia.com] Christmas is a special time for me and my family, as I'm sure it is for many of you. My family's traditions include our church's Christmas Eve service. Our faith is important to us, and the opportunities that we have to worship help us to remember the true meaning of the season. (Image: Unsplash-James Coleman)

All of us can take for granted the religious freedom we have as Americans. Sure, it can seem like plenty of forces line up against people of faith in these times, but it should never be lost on any of us that we have the freedom to worship as we choose as part of the US Constitution. Religious liberty has been a part of our nation's identity from the start, and that's something we should be grateful for.

When you look at what's going on with our neighbors to the north, you should be even more thankful for your religious freedom. In Canada, religious liberty is supposed to be guaranteed in the country's constitution, along with "and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination based on religion." That enshrinement hasn't stopped the province of Quebec from trampling on the rights of millions of people of faith.

Quebec passed a law in 2019 colloquially known as Bill 21—its full title is An Act respecting the laicity of the State—designed to preserve the secularism of provincial government. Under Bill 21, people of faith aren't allowed to wear symbols of their faith at work. This law covers crosses, kippahs, hijabs, turbans, and other symbols of the faiths that religious people throughout Quebec hold dear, and the legislation extends to schools as well.

That's a big deal because government work is apparently a big deal in Quebec. Employees in the public sector make close to 10% more than private-sector workers—which ought to be a problem in and of itself, religious liberty notwithstanding. In a way, the law also prevents people of faith from applying for jobs, particularly if their religion requires them to wear specific articles of clothing (think Sikhs, Muslims, and Jews).

Even though Bill 21 has been on the books for nearly two-and-a-half years, it has come back into the spotlight after a school district removed teacher Fatemah Anvari for wearing a hijab. She could've been a Christian teacher fired for a cross necklace or a Sikh teacher fired for wearing a turban, or a Jewish teacher fired for a Star of David pendant or a kippah—the faith of the teacher doesn't matter as much as the fact that her rights were violated by the law... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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