Religious Ignorance and Unawareness - Research Paper Example

College Religious Ignorance/Unawareness Religious groups of the present, as compared with the past in Canada, seem to have withdrawn from the public scene, except when certain ethical issues arise. This may be seen as a result of the decrease in the proportion of the population who practice religion, and the corresponding growth in the proportion of the population who are atheists and agnostics. Canada is a secular state, but a state where population growth stems primarily from immigration. As a result of the state’s immigration policy, which demands pluralism, Canada is also a state which represents several different religions. It operates on the basis of normative pluralism, in order to ensure a neutral position, so that it may judge fairly in religious affairs whenever required. However, despite efforts to eradicate discrimination and inequality in Canadian society, these issues still exist (Olthuis, 23). The issue of Discrimination is also evident at workplace. It can be expressed indirectly by employers by recommending a specific dress code to wear to work. Imposing such rules and policies might pose as a disadvantage to some workers feeling alienated due to lack of flexibility to exercise their religious freedom. For instance, there are those individual whose religious believes allows them to wear hijab and turban. Based on their faith and beliefs, imposing suits to them at workplace can be discriminatory (Amiraux, Vale?rie & Viginie, 93). Discrimination comes in different forms at work place. Some employers have gone to that extent of advertising job application to only one religion. Employer should be at the fore front to ensure that their staff members feel comfortable and embrace one another regardless of their difference in beliefs, social norms and culture. There are steps which employers should undertake to curb the issue of indirect discrimination at work place. Firstly, in conducting job interviews, employers should ask their interviewees same questions related to a particular post that is being interviewed for. Nevertheless, the inquiries should strictly be job related. This signifies that all the applicant have the same potential and capacities. It sends a signal to the applicants that there is no favoritism in the company .When executing disciplinary actions; the employer should clearly record information about an employee that is business related. Professionalism should be exercised to a great length as spelled out in the code on ethics (Amiraux, Vale?rie & Viginie, 92). Offering training to inexperienced managers is crucial. Management decisions are sometimes critical when making judgments which are subjective. Consulting with senior managers is also advisable since it reduces cases of discriminatory judgment. Secondly, the employers should allow the employees to express their diverse religious values freely. Offering the workers a sacred place at work to practice their players in the course of their holy month is a hug step especially the Muslim. Muslim believers have prayers session during their holy month of Mubarak. They need to connect with their maker and denying them this chance and freedom is discriminatory. Workers themselves also have a role to play. Reported cases of employees to employee’s religious segregation are prevalent. The organization should create a channel where the employees are allowed to report such cases to the management or the human resource manager (Amiraux, Vale?rie & Viginie, 94). Employer s should come up with policies which promote tolerance and accountability which foster good relationships among the employees. These policies should spell out the possible ways to fight religious intolerance and publicize them to employees. Such rules and regulations include dismissal, suspension or offering expulsion to those who engage in such vices. Publication of the rule in employee’s handbook will be a strategic step in eradicating unfair treatment. Handbooks should incorporate the company’s code of conduct which should be issued when upon the admittance of a worker in the company. The issue of indirect discrimination has also gain momentum among Canadian institutions. Students in public primary schools colleges and local universities are no exception to this social menace. Students who fall victims of mockery, name calling and bullying feel dejected and victimized. The school administration should put necessary policies and procedures in place by enforcing that rules and regulation of the school are followed to the letter. Rules which govern the students’ conducts should be emphasized and highlighted on the information board and the students’ manuals .Failure of adhering to their rules student should face disciplinary action accordingly. The school administration should enforce regulations to stop religious discrimination in schools. Despite rules in school, there is need to educate students about diversity in religious and the essence of embracing one another regardless of their differences. Presentations, meeting lectures and inviting prominent facilitators is a key stage to the fight against such discriminations. Students need to be enlightened on the long term and short term negative impacts of such vices in the school environment and the entire community. Such meeting should be set compulsory for all students to attend. Monthly code of conduct meetings should be prioritized .Surveys after such meetings are very important. They help in gauging the impact positive impact of the meeting among students (Amiraux, Vale?rie & Viginie, 102). There is need for the citizens of Canada to accept the fact that religious discrimination and other forms of victimization are taking a toll on the social freedom of masses. Individuals should be willing to these battles by joining hands with the organizations which fights for human rights. This initiative can assist in spreading knowledge across social media to help in getting rid of the problem. These groups visit Schools and business institution to sensitize the people about the effects of discrimination. Mobilization of people to join hands is a great undertaking since there is maximum support which is a great encouragement to the humanitarian bodies. For example Muslim and Christian believers hold a public conference in educating the masses on brotherhood. Clergy men and religious leaders should be also at the front gear in joining forces to alleviate the issues. The Catholic fraternity has been so instrumental.21st day of March is marked as an International day of racial discrimination. This day was set aside to point out the effect of racial and religious discrimination to the Catholic family. It also comprehensively expresses how such setbacks have been a challenge in fulfilling life purposes. Catholic promotes harmony and acceptance during this day and also recognizes the rich diverse culture of Canadian citizens. Focusing on the positive side of the community is also the main focus during this day. Canadian people are enriched with aspirations and dreams demonstrated through talents and other social activities. The beliefs of the Catholics express that entertainment of bad attitude which depict racial and religious favoritism is sinful. They also advocate for love of one another despite the spiritual orientation. Media is an important system in conveying information to the public. TV stations and radios should spread messages and information which addresses the issues of discrimination. Programs which portray how rich the state is in terms of cultures and beliefs are educative. They are also stepping stone toward the fight. Advertisement of successful marriages of individual with religious differences is inspirational. It will help people to appreciate one another and learn positive social values in the community. Positive messages which encourage patriotism should prevail in the media. Media is considered to be main platform which offers knowledge to extensive number of people around the globe. By pointing out social setback in our community through the support of the media, it will create a huge positive impact in the community (Montgomery, 422). The government is the main body whose key responsibility is to ensure that their citizens are upholding peace love and unity. It has to step in to ensure that the issues of intolerance through discrimination come to an end. A country’s rules and regulation must be adhered to by all citizens. The constitution of a Canada requires all citizens to respect one another and avoid any form of segregation among its citizens. The government should offer maximum support to both government and nongovernmental institution in the fights against discrimination. Granting them necessary resources e.g. funds to print out flyers will be a huge boost (Montgomery, 425). The government policies need to be revised .Implementation of policies which forbids discrimination is essential. It should declare any form of discrimination to be a criminal offence against the state. Passing such bills in parliament will pave a way to victory to the fight. Consequentially, harsh charges will have to be publicized to all people if found guilty of the crime. Engagement in state practices which do not favor any religious will portray equality e.g. rewarding patriotic citizen who have been at the forefront in promoting unity and love for the entire citizen. Endorsement of all the religious practices and beliefs is a huge milestone. A government should not be inclined to a particular religion, escalating to a conflict. Observation of sacred days and urging the citizens to celebrate with a particular religion showcases acceptance among religions. It is fact that there is racial and religious discrimination in Canada. The people of Canada, the government and religious leaders have a huge task of ensuring that all these discrimination are buried in the past. The government needs to put in place the right measures, procedures and policies to unite the citizen together for the great future of the country ahead. The fight to redeem Canada from shackles of social vices starts with the people themselves. People should realize that there is a problem at hand with need urgent solution. Acceptance of the problem and educating the masses about issues of discrimination will be a transformational change (Montgomery, 432). The Canadian state has taken several steps in its attempts to deal with issues of religious differences, in order to ensure that all of its peoples are treated equally. We see this in examples of how the schools, hospitals and the SAAQ (Societe de l’assurance automobile du Quebec) have adjusted certain rules, in order to prevent individuals from being put at a disadvantage or excluded from the rights to equality, “in particular in combating so-called indirect discrimination” (Building the Future p. 6). This reasonable accommodation comes from the basic principle of equality and fairness, and is intended to counteract any indirect discrimination. This discrimination occurs when rules, regulations or procedures that may appear to be neutral actually discriminate against certain groups of people (Olthuis, 63). Adjustments of the rules in these situations are made so that the individuals involved may receive reasonable accommodation. The education system in Canada makes efforts to combat discrimination by: providing vacant rooms to students for prayer; allowing students to follow their religious norms by permitting them to wear the religious outfits despite their violation of the school’s dress code; and by teaching an ethics and religion class from a neutral perspective. This fight against indirect discrimination also takes place in hospitals, as doctors and nurses ‘bend’ the rules to ensure that patients’ beliefs, norms and traditions are not dishonored. The SAAQ (Societe de l’assurance automobile du Quebec) has also shown its stance against indirect discrimination through the management of human resources. The SAAQ allows for a female instructor to replace a male one if a female Muslim driver wishes this, for the practical exam. The accommodation of providing a male instructor similarly applies to Jewish orthodox male drivers, if they wish. These examples and many others clearly reveal that the Canadian state and society are trying to overcome the issue of indirect discrimination, through adjustment of rules. To help avoid future problems of indirect discrimination and inequality based on religious differences within Canada, several changes will have to take place. Firstly, the current strong lack of dialogue between the religious and secular populations must be change. Many changes must take place within the Canadian people themselves, as they must first acknowledge each other’s differences and then understand the importance of coexistence and co-operation. With a combination of the efforts of both the state and society, Canada may be able to reach a new and better form of secularism with emphasis on four main principles. These principles are: the moral equality of persons; freedom of conscience and religion; the separation of church and state; and the neutrality of the state with respect to religions and deep-seated secular convictions (Building the Future p. 44). This new secularist state would require that all citizens, whether practicing a religion or not, to recognize that coexistence is possible and necessary. It is also very important that the state not favor or interfere with any of the religions, by instituting very proficient laws that target the importance of equality and religious freedom. Cooperation and coexistence is of extreme importance when dealing with religious differences and discrimination. As a result, I believe it would be very useful to create a state-related organization that deals specifically with bringing together representatives of all religions, non-believers and lawmakers to hold discussions/conferences annually. During these conferences, the representatives would have the ability to freely express their differences, in hopes of reaching compromises and solving these differences. They would also play a role in the examination of state laws, and the regulations and practices of schools, and other public organizations, to make sure that there is little possibility of discrimination and inequality. A lot of the indirect and direct discrimination-taking place in Canada is a result of the lack of knowledge people have of the norms and values of other religions. For a country that is becoming more and more diverse every day, it is important to keep its people in understanding and agreement with each other. This is a very difficult task, since to do so, you must reach out to millions of people—it is a long-term project, for which results would show only after years of hard work. I believe that by introducing a compulsory “Religious Understanding” class in all high schools, after a couple of generations, Canadians of all religions would in a state of coexistence and cooperation. The “Religious Understanding” class would be for a whole year, and would educate its students on all religions in Canada (including that of no religion), ensuring that students learn about their respective beliefs, norms, traditions, values, do’s and don’ts, et cetera. Not only would this class help Canadians avoid discrimination against one another, but it would also give them a good understanding of other cultures, thereby allowing them to engage in positive relationships with each other. Although it is impossible to deny the impact of Christianity on the shaping of the Canadian state, I believe that religious symbols must be kept off of all state buildings. Symbols such as the Crucifix on the National Assembly, should be removed, but put on display in a national museum, or other significant location, where they be displayed as an important aspect of Canadian history. Work cited Amiraux, Vale?rie, and Virginie Guiraudon. "Discrimination in Comparative Perspective: Policies and Practices." American Behavioral Scientist. 53.12 (2010): 1691-1714. Print. Secularism or Democracy? : Associational Governance of Religious Diversity. Amsterdam Univ. Press, 2012. Internet resource. Malhi, Rebecca, Susan Boon, and Timothy Rogers. "`being Canadian' and `being Indian': Subject Positions and Discourses Used in South Asian-Canadian Women's Talk About Ethnic Identity." Culture & Psychology. 15.2 (2009): 255-283. Print. Les Actes Du Congre?s De La Socie?te? Canadienne Pour L'e?tude De La Religion: Annual Proceedings of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion. Kingston, Ont. [etc.: Queen's Theological College [etc., 1968. Print. Olthuis, James H. Towards an Ethics of Community: Negotiations of Difference in a Pluralist Society. Waterloo, Ont: Published for the Canadian Corp. for Studies in Religion = Corp. canadienne des Sciences religeuses by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2000. Internet resource. Montgomery, Ken. "Imagining the Antiracist State: Representations of Racism in Canadian History Textbooks." Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 26.4 (2005): 427-442. Print. Read More