LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Protecting faith communities

Re: On Parliament Hill column, Oct. 10, 2024.

Faith communities need no extra protection. A secular government has a responsibility to protect all human beings, whether they are religious or nonreligious with no extra favours for faith-based communities. Human rights are for all of us. If anyone wants to bait us into Christian nationalism, I would strongly object to that. If divide and conquer is the goal, that is not a good political strategy. White Christian nationalism is one of the greater threats to a peaceful society. A certain brand of the evangelical movement is just too eager to control a secular government and instill their values on everybody else. This movement has raised its head in the past but was rejected by the broader society. To be able to enjoy full freedom we must reject the Christian nationalist agenda and erase it from the political scene. No violence or discrimination is needed for that. One simple step is needed. Just separate Church and state for good. The government needs to stay secular to be able to function properly.

Mr. Falk’s accusation that our prime minister is anti-Christian and pro-Muslim cannot be verified, neither do we believe that Mr. Falk has the God-given right to make such condemnation. When it comes to general understanding, I would suspect that Mr. Trudeau would be on the brighter side of things to formulate his own expressions. Conservative common sense does not necessarily line up with the broader view of society. Not one particular group can lay claim to {common sense} reasoning.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is complex. It is not a one sided story and will not be solved by our prime minister or even the U.S. We have to separate the Israeli and Palestinian people from the brutal regimes that have no good will towards each other and don’t care about the ordinary people. The people are stuck between a rock and a hard place and cannot win in any shape or form. It is heart-breaking to see tens of thousands of people killed for no logical reason at all. What one calls a terrorist is a freedom fighter for the other. It is not helpful to blame our universities for the conflict happening in the Middle East. It rather confirms a bias that is displayed. When we come to place where we can value human life of Palestinians and Israeli people at the same level, we might have chance of looking for solutions. No condemnation in this situation solves the problem for anyone unless we are willing to address the elephant in the room, and that is not the ordinary people on either side. If the people feel the injustice of a brutal oppressor, they do have a right to express it in our country. We can only hope to elect people in the future that will have an open mind and broader view than what we see displayed in Ted Falk’s article.

David Kauenhowen

Mitchell MB