We live in a great country, we have freedoms and responsibilities that only a small percentage of the world population enjoys. Our country is based in the Christian ethic, many statutory holidays are religious holidays such as Good Friday, Easter and Christmas. I find that these celebrations are under attack from several sources. Some religions hold that theirs is the only true religion and that if you don’t follow their path you are an infidel or condemned to hell. Our religious and multicultural tolerance is being turned against us and our cultural and religious is being subjugated to the minority view or some strange concept of being politically correct. It is stated that we offend those who do not adhere to our path and that we must give up our freedoms in the name of not offending someone else who has immigrated recently to this county.
We’ve gone too far in our “Multicultural Mosaic” to the point that soon we will lose our cultural and religious identity because it is offensive to others. In the United States they have the melting pot which pushes immigrants to become an American with American beliefs and values. That’s the rules going in and you know it when you become an American Citizen. That isn’t the model that we need in Canada but our current model threatens to turn Canada into something our forefathers never intended nor a country that we won’t recognize, we’ll become less tolerant of others because they offend us. We need to move the “Mosaic” bar towards a requirement that immigrants understand what Canada is, they need to be able to live as a Canadian while still being able to celebrate their religion and culture in tandem to that of Canada.
Recently, the city of Gatineau produced a guide for new immigrants with a set of values such as don’t offer bribes, on a page titled “Children are our most precious good,” the guide says that no-nos include “excessive punishments, corporal and sexual abuse, confinement, neglect, forced labour, humiliation, willful malnutrition,” among other things. I believe that it is a useful guide one that would be appreciated should we go to another country with a different culture than Canada’s.
The section on punctuality says it’s best to show up to appointments on time or even a few minutes early. Under freedom of expression, the guide tells immigrants that journalists in Canada have the right to openly criticize their government. Religion, it says, is a private affair and religious indoctrination is “often not well perceived.”
There is a hue and cry being raised by the immigration industry how it treats immigrants as paternalistic. I think it offers good practical advice on what Canada is about and I applaud the guide. It will be a useful tool for someone who has never experienced the freedoms and way of life that we have here in Canada.
For example, at the current rates of growth, Islam will become one of the dominant groups in Canada is the near future. The radical components of Islam are offended by the Canadian way of life and will move to curtail it and model on the countries and cultures that they left when they came to Canada.
Those who profess no religion are also moving to make everything neutral and non-specific. Christmas is an inflammatory word and should be replaced with simple a simple non descriptive term “Holiday”. Christmas has both religious and pre-christian roots. Many religious holidays or celebrations have their roots in the pagan practices before Christ.
Quebec works hard at protecting French and the French culture and the rest of Canada should be doing the same to protect Canada and the Canadian culture.
The latest uproar is the government requiring anyone taking the oath of citizenship to remove anything covering their face. A vocal minority is saying this is discrimination against women. I am sorry but this is a great nation and we accommodate many freedoms but we should be free to demand certain restriction be honoured in order for new arrivals to meet minimal security requirements. Where most of these people came from don’t honour our customs nor freedoms.
If we continue on the “experiment” of full multiculturalism we will lose what is good about this country and become less free and accepting with that change.
