John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
"Premier François Legault has said the secularism legislation is moderate and represents the desires of a majority in the province.”
First, I do not regard the legislation as "moderate."
Is there such a thing as “moderate” petty tyranny from government?
Second, I doubt his claims about a majority. I observe absolutely no tension in Montreal around the many women on the streets and in stores who chose to exercise their freedom to wear the hijab.
Third, even if the bill were somehow demonstrated to be the will of the majority, since when is it the job of government - secular government, mind you - to accommodate prejudice or anti-religious feelings of any nature?
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Response to a comment which called the proposed legislation, “pro-human rights”:
Nothing can be called "pro-human rights" which forbids people to wear the things they freely choose to wear, especially if what they wear is a matter of conscience for them.
Secular government means not just a government with no religious affiliation - something we already have - it also means government which in no way interferes in the religious beliefs and practices of citizens, of any of its citizens, even a single one.
That's what the old Soviet government practiced. It had no religious affiliation, but it interfered actively in citizens' personal religious lives.
Further, what this legislation is truly doing is flirting with Islamophobia, something for sure no government has any business doing.
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Response to a comment:
That is correct, but a good many people seem to miss the point.
It is a simple fact that a bad-intentioned majority can keep any minority in perpetual tyranny of one form or another.
There is nothing sacred or automatic in a democracy which protects minorities. Democracies are perfectly capable of tyranny.
Power, once granted by any political mechanism, is power. It includes the power to abuse minorities, and we’ve seen that done many times, as in Nationalist South Africa or the American Confederacy – both of whose governments were democratic in form.
Only Charters or Bills of Rights, enforced by courts, can prevent, or at least ameliorate, that.
