Calling all Christians! Better hop on a bus and head for Toronto, or school prayer in Canada might end up like school prayer in the US.
With the Ontario election less than a month away, a number of multi-faith groups are calling on the provincial party leaders to take a public stance on religious teachings in secular schools.
(Psst! The rest of you guys, don’t tell them this part…)
Valley Park Middle School … has been permitting an afternoon Islamic prayer service in its cafeteria for its students for the past year.
An imam directs the voluntary 40-minute service every Friday, which was started after administrators realized that many students missed class because they had to leave the school to attend the service at a mosque.
That’s right, they’re all on their way to promote the spread of Islam. Maybe when they get back, they’ll have just a teensy bit more insight into why secular schools are a good idea?
Actually, the situation is more surreal then that. The Multi-faith group is trying to stop prayer in public schools because they don’t want or are afraid one group will be favoured over another. The prayer sessions are actually illegal under the Charter of Rights but, because the Muslim students tended not to return to class after attending Friday prayers at the local Mosque, the school was losing money which is based on student attendance.