I want to touch on a couple of items that have been in the news lately.
First, there was the issue of a little girl not being allowed to wear a head scarf to Lloyd George elementary because she did not belong to any religion that required it.
Our local school district has a policy in place regarding the wearing of head gear by students and it exempts students on the basis of their religion — or, should I say, the religion of their parents.
To simply accept that, for some reason, religions should get special treatment when it comes to such issues is, of course, to actually single out those who do not subscribe to any of these ancient creations.
The policy that prohibits the girl from wearing a head scarf seems quite reasonable, as were the explanations from the school.
However, it should and must apply to all students, regardless of gender, race or religion.
Perhaps the student in question should have claimed exemption based on her religion, which is no religion.
If there is a God, and I’m pretty sure there isn’t, I find it quite amusing he or she or it would concern itself with what one wears or does not wear on their head or, for that matter, what food one can eat and on which days and with whom one sleeps and in what position.
I could go on with more examples of this kind of silliness, but I’ll spare you and just suggest you read the Bible.
Secondly, I feel it necessary to comment on the media and political hysteria surrounding the shooting of a soldier in Ottawa.
As we now know, this individual was nothing more than a victim of mental illness who, it turns out, was known to police and had a criminal record.
Indeed, he may have been motivated by religious beliefs, as many such people are; however, he was not connected to any so-called terrorist group, nor could this incident be considered a terrorist attack.
Our federal government has been attempting to provoke such an incident for many years and, in fact, right after this so-called attack, the Conservative government passed a bill that attacks our privacy and freedom.
This was an extremely tragic event and, of course, our hearts go out to the victim’s family, but is this any reason to turn Canada into a police state?
Let’s keep in mind Canada has now joined in the neverending war in the Middle East, a war that has been raging for some 13 years, with no victories and no end in sight.
The only beneficiaries of such mayhem are of the military industrial complex.
Do Canadians really want to expend billions on bombing religious fanatics and, inevitably, killing civilians on the other side of the planet, while cutting benefits to veterans’ pensions and closing veterans’ affairs offices at home?
It’s obvious to me our government really doesn’t care about soldiers or veterans, except when they are politically useful.
Unfortunately, the soldier killed in Ottawa has been used by a government that seems bent on turning us into the United States.
I fear this will not be the last incident of this kind but, next time, it might actually be a terrorist attack.
Are you willing to be the victim of such an attack?
During the incident on Parliament Hill, our prime minister hid in a broom closet and, frankly, so would I.
Then again, I haven’t sent hundreds of young Canadians to their deaths and rendered hundreds more injured for life to make a point that seems increasingly hard to grasp.
Bill Ligertwood is director of the Kamloops Centre for Rational Thought, which can be found online at kcfrt.com.
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