Multiculturalism gone wild
Sometimes we bend over so far backwards to accommodate religious practices that I expect soon to hear the High Court of any Western country allowing "honor killings" because they are so universally practiced and so ingrained in Muslim culture.
Tribune India,
2 Mar 2006,
Canada's HC allows Sikh daggers in schoolOTTAWA (Reuters) - Multiculturalism and religious freedom trumped safety concerns in a Canadian Supreme Court decision on Thursday that will allow orthodox Sikh students to carry traditional daggers to school. In its decision, the court noted that Sikh orthodoxy requires the wearing of the daggers, known as kirpans, even though they are banned from airplanes and some courtrooms. "Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," Justice Louise Charron wrote in reasons for the decision after a court case that involved 12-year-old Gurbaj Singh Multani, who was prevented from carrying his kirpan at a Montreal school.
I think it is a mistake to allow any display of religious garb in public schools. Anyone wants to wear a Yarmulke to school should go to a Jewish religious school.
I do however support the following decision:
MSNBC,
21 Feb 2006,
Justices unanimously rule that N.M. congregation can drink illegal drugWASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God.
Justices, in their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, moved decisively to keep the government out of a church’s religious practice. Federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church, Roberts wrote in the decision.
The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.
Many young readers may not know but during Prohibition, sacramental use of wine was exempt from prohibition laws. The above ruling is in line with this well-respected principal.
