Des Québécois haïssent la religion religieusement | Le Devoir
2015/11/03 2 Comments
Not surprising given the greater intolerance of religious symbols and more negative attitudes towards religion in Quebec in all polling I have seen. But the marked difference in attitude between Christianity and minority religions stands out:
La Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse possède sur l’intolérance religieuse au Québec un document si inquiétant qu’elle n’a pas osé le rendre public lors de l’examen du projet de loi 59 (sur le discours haineux et sur l’incitation à la violence). Ni non plus pendant l’élection fédérale (où l’affaire du niqab a défrayé la chronique des semaines durant). Qu’avait donc trouvé cette enquête pour que le président de la CDPDJ, Me Jacques Frémont, ait été réticent à en publier alors les résultats ?
Le juriste s’en est expliqué, vendredi, à l’ouverture d’un symposium international de trois jours tenu à l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) sur l’islamophobie. L’enquête avait interrogé 1500 personnes de tous âges, hommes et femmes à travers la province, et nées au Québec ou à l’étranger. On ne leur demandait pas si le niqab les dérangeait, a dit Me Frémont, mais le portrait de la situation est très clair. « Au Québec, il y a des gens qui haïssent la religion religieusement. »
Les résultats complets seront diffusés prochainement. Déjà, les extraits rapportés samedi par la Gazette de Montréal sont qualifiés de « troublants » quant à la « tolérance religieuse ». Ainsi, pas moins de 43 % des gens interrogés trouveraient « suspect » quiconque exprime ouvertement sa religion. Et 45 % disaient avoir une perception négative de la religion. Cela nous dérangerait-il d’être servi par une femme portant un hidjab (à ne pas confondre avec un niqab) ? Pour près de la moitié (48,9 %), oui.
Par contre, si 5,5 % se disaient dérangés par le port d’une croix (chrétienne), 25 % l’étaient pour la kippa (juive), et 30,5 % pour le turban (sikh). La CDPDJ n’a pas reçu beaucoup de plaintes à la suite de controverses ou d’incidents lors des débats sur la charte des valeurs au Québec ou de l’affaire du niqab à l’élection du 19 octobre. Chaque année, 1500 plaintes sont portées pour discrimination. Depuis 2013, on en a enregistré seulement 64 en matière de religion, mais 65 % d’entre elles provenaient de musulmans.
Lors du débat sur la charte des valeurs, la Commission s’attendait à un déluge de plaintes, a raconté le président. Mais elle n’en a pas eu. « Les victimes choisissent de ne pas porter plainte, a-t-il dit, et c’est très inquiétant. » Elles préféreraient, croit-il, « se refermer sur elles-mêmes ». (Dans les cas de discours haineux ou d’incitation à la violence, la CDPDJ n’aurait pas à attendre des plaintes pour intervenir, un changement proposé qui soulève une forte opposition parmi les défenseurs de la liberté d’expression.)
Source: Des Québécois haïssent la religion religieusement | Le Devoir
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
Political correctness, in the English part of Canada, seems to decree that one must not be ‘critical’ of religion. [This means abdicating any capacity for any critical thought whatsoever as religion has implications that reach far beyond religion] Having lived many years of my life in Italy and in France I share a ‘religious’ dislike of religion; religion makes claims (about transcendent knowledge and about righteousness) which most of us, secularists, do not claim and feel we could not claim; and religions often insists upon privileges which most of us, secularists, or just ordinary folk, do not claim or enjoy, such as exemption from taxes, the right to hold antediluvian beliefs about science, the right to promote retrograde ethical standards, frequently the systematic promotion of ignorance – think Evangelical Fundamentalism – and the right to promote prejudice – against gays for example – and the promotion of a sense of superiority, exaltation of tribal loyalty above humanity (think Sunni versus Shia), the right to indoctrinate children, and, generally, the promotion of ‘patriarchy’ and, usually well disguised under double-talk, the promotion of a particular view of women, that is misogyny etc. Religion, while a great source of social – read ‘tribal’ – cohesion also causes a great many conflicts, and, where it is not the cause of conflicts, religion often exacerbates conflicts – turning them into transcendent and absolute conflicts, where a pragmatic solution might be quite possible for less religiously inclined humans – think Northern Ireland, think Israel-Palestine, think Sunni-Shia, Iran-Saudi Arabia, think Taliban, think any number of other examples, from virtually every religion. Religion also often serves as a mask for massive abuse; sexual abuse, abuse of power, the abuse of children, abuse of women, etc., etc. The Catholic Church, for one, offers a whole catalogue of such things. In Italy, the Church, in underhanded ways, tries to interfere with sexual education, abortion, and so on, and, in doing so, is strictly speaking going against the laws of the Italian republic. Saudi-financed madrassas inculcate children into a fundamentalist mindset – leaving them ignorant of much else about the world – which is a conduit towards terrorism and innumerable forms of cruelty and the destruction of societies. Look at the collapse of much of the Middle East into utter barbarism. Look at Syria where what will replace the – extraordinarily brutal – Alawite ‘secular’ regime of Assad – will probably be, if Assad were fully defeated, a brutal theocratic and sectarian regime of some kind. Harboring an extreme dislike for religion does not mean that one has to be impolite towards or inconsiderate of those with religious beliefs. Human understanding and openness should be the proper ‘secular’ response. In the case of the niqab, if the young woman wanted to wear it at citizenship ceremony, then I for one am quite happy that she do so. This is after all a free country. And religious freedom – as well as the freedom not to believe – is fundamental to freedom in general. Mr Harper – who is I believe an Evangelical Fundamentalist – tried to exploit the issue in the election; thankfully, it backfired mightily, leading to an NDP decline in Quebec, a decline which played to the Liberal’s advantage, and which probably gave Trudeau his majority. One can be very ‘critical’ of religion, and yet still – very much – respect those who believe, and even respect those who serve as nuns, priests, rabbis, imams, and etc,; and also respect their rights to practice their religion. It is perhaps a fine distinction, but it is an essential one. I just thought I’d speak up for the ‘secular religion’. It has few explicit defenders, outside of Quebec.
Gilbert, fully agree with your conclusion. One can be very critical yet respectful of religion. And being critical does not mean secularism as a substitute religion, but rather respect for all (within the limits of the law, of course).