The Conservative government is following the lead of the U.S. and establishing a $5 million office, run by a Roman Catholic academic, to speak out for religious freedom around the world. There is no doubt religious repression is rising in a number of places.
But will the new office be fair to all, including atheists?
That's what many are asking, given that the Conservative government consulted mostly conservative Christians before unveiling the office.
Accusations of Christian favouritism and anti-Islamic bias after 9/11 have long haunted the body's U.S. namesake, the Office of International Religious Freedom.
It doesn't have to be this way, however. The study of global religious persecution has turned into a social science in the past 15 years - and it shows Christians are not necessarily saints.
The respected Pew Forum for Religion in Public Life recently completed a survey of 198 countries and found religious harassment threatens three-quarters of the world's population. And in many countries it's getting worse.
Christians, who make up the world's largest religion, were either restricted by governments or harassed by private groups in 130 countries.
Muslims, who make up the second-largest religion, were repressed in 117 countries.
Jews, who account for only one per cent of the global population, were harassed in 75 countries, mostly by individuals.
Hindus were targeted in 27 countries and Buddhists in 16.
But the existence of real religious hostilities around the world, including to a small extent in the U.S. and even Canada, doesn't discount important questions still surrounding Canada's new office.
Tom Flanagan, a former adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and professor of political science at the University of Calgary, says the office is good policy as well as good politics.
It will resonate, Flanagan said, with many new Canadians. One out of two immigrants to Canada since 2005 have been Christian, according to pollster Reginald Bibby. Many come from countries with religious strife, such as India, Iran and China.
When Harper opened the office, he declared he wanted to protect all religious people. But his remarks concentrated on persecution done in Muslim-majority countries, such as Pakistan and Iran - as well as in China, which is officially atheist.
Stories of repression in Muslim-majority countries are commonplace in North America. News headlines here seize on shocking cases of Islamic terrorism, persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, discrimination in Iran and stoning of women by African Muslims.
It's unusually symbolic, in addition, that the Conservatives launched the office at an event in an Ahmadiyya Muslim headquarters in Ontario. The Ahmadiyya are a tiny messianic Islamic sect, discriminated against in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
They are also a proselytizing group, judged to be on the margins of Islam, in much the way "Jews for Jesus" are not widely accepted by mainstream Jews. It's provocative to Canadian Sunni and Shia Muslims to give such prominence to the Ahmadiyya.
Should the Office of Religious Freedom be focusing in such negative ways on Islam? After all, when it comes to persecution, there is lots of religious blame to go around.
The Pew Forum shows giant countries with considerable Christian populations, such as Russia and Nigeria, have grim track records on persecution. In those countries, Muslims and other minorities have often been targeted by either governments or private groups.
In Hindu-majority India, the Pew Forum points to the way zealous Hindu officials and fundamentalists have discriminated against, attacked, assassinated and murdered Muslims and Sikhs.
Buddhist leaders, who have a non-violent reputation in the West, are also not immune from criticism. Buddhists run a brutal dictatorship in Burma and have contributed to violent conflicts in Sri Lanka, Laos and Thailand.
And, so far, there has been no mention from the Office of Religious Freedom about protecting atheists.
Atheists are often discriminated against around the world, including in the U.S., where seven states will not allow an atheist to enter public office.
Atheists in North America aren't assaulted for their non-religion, or accustomed to having their meeting places burned down, as happens to mosques in the U.S.
But anti-atheist bias still runs through parts of North America, including in hiring practices. A University of B.C. study found a majority of religious Americans and Canadians equate atheists with rapists.
Other polls also show five out of 10 Americans would never vote for an atheist. That figure stands at 30 per cent among Canadians.
Finally, there is one question that might appear mischievous. But it isn't.
Is it possible some religions are given too much freedom?
That's what worries politicians in Germany, France and other European countries, where judicious restrictions are often placed on controversial forms of religion, often called "cults."
The Moonies. The Solar Temple. The Branch Davidians. Christian fundamentalists. Scientologists. Sikh fundamentalists. UFO sects.
All these religious movements have, at times, been accused of abusing, manipulating or defrauding their own members.
Europeans are among those who want to remind Americans, and Canadians, that religions are not always good, even for their own followers.
Therefore religious freedom should not be an absolute.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Douglas Todd
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