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«« Intégration et religion
The nasty, anxious summer of Gurbaj Singh just got better, we hope. Officials
of the Marguerite Bourgeoys School Board and the government of Quebec, on the
other hand, have earned themselves some sleepless nights and shamefaced days as
they contemplate what they've done here. Gurbaj, now 12, carries a kirpan, a small ceremonial knife, as one aspect of
his Sikh faith. He carried it at Ste. Catherine Labouré grade school last year,
and in the fall, he was going to carry it at Cavalier de LaSalle high school,
also run by the Bourgeoys board. Since a May compromise, he has carried it sewn
into a pouch inside his clothing. Nobody can site a single case of a kirpan - a
solemn religious symbol - being used in school violence; classroom scissors are
more dangerous. But the Bourgeoys board chose to set aside common sense and went to court to
take away Gurbaj's kirpan. Now the family has slipped out from under this mess
by switching the lad to a private high school. (The court case will continue,
however, to settle the principle at stake.) We give the Bourgeoys board members and the government that backed their case
an A grade in hyper-safety but a big red F in balancing safety against the
fundamental and pressing concept of cultural diversity. About the only good to
come of this is a reminder of how fortunate we are to have some school choice in
the form of private schools.
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