Praying for the Supreme Court in Canada

It might not surprise you that I've prayed (not a lot) for the Supreme Court in the United States. You might conclude that my prayers aren't exactly efficacious given the dreary outcome of some important rulings. 

This week I am praying for the Canadian Supreme Court as it hears arguments for and against Bill 21, as well as broader questions around the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause.  Bill 21 is a chilling piece of legislation in Quebec which essentially overrides the Charter of Rights and Freedoms regarding freedom of religion and misuses the Notwithstanding Clause, an odd "you're not the boss of me" tool that provinces can use to opt out of constitutional expectations. 

While there has been a lot of excellent coverage of these days of Supreme Court deliberation I'm not sure that most Canadians could give a damn. But our liberal democracy and the right of individuals and communities to express faith could be damned if Quebec continues on this disturbing pat of expunging religion in any form from the public square.

The term Quebec uses for these draconian measures is "laicite" which means secularism which has been borrowed from France where there is also serious restrictions. Even in translation Quebec uses "laicity" rather than secularization to denote a legal framework. 

One writer, Shema Khan, has perceptively identified that "In Quebec, laïcité has become its own kind of religious orthodoxy" to use the headline from her opinion piece in the Globe and Mail. As Kahn, who wears a hijab herself says: The province is devoted to its relentless march toward rigid laïcité; Bill 94 is even more restrictive than France’s similar laws, and Bill 9, which aims to further curtail religious freedoms, is on the horizon. Ironically, it makes Quebec look “more Catholic than the Pope,” as they say, on the issue of laïcité.

Meanwhile, hundreds of teachers and educational support workers and other government workers have lost their jobs already, not because they didn't their work well but because they where a hijab or a turban or a kippah. As I wrote recently, parents have been told that they can no longer go on school trips with their kids or volunteer in school libraries for the same reason. People are no longer allowed to pray in public places. It is all misogynistic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, and racist. Just writing about this makes my blood boil. This is secular fundamentalism and it isn't Canada. 

                                                              Good Friday Procession in Quebec City

Next week is Holy Week for Christians and I know that there will be Good Friday processions in Quebec. Quebec's Roman Catholic bishops have joined in condemning the legislation but I doubt that any of the processions or outdoor Stations of the Cross will be cancelled or restricted. And church bells will ring on Easter morning without the religious police showing up. But of course, this isn't about restricting Christians even though most Quebecers have long abandoned the once omnipresent Roman Catholic Church. 

I hope you'll be praying with me about the outcome even though I might be disappointed once again.