Reference article - December 7, 2010: School Distribution of Bibles Implies Respect for all Faiths and Traditions

An Offensive Verse

Re: School Bible Distribution Implies Respect For All Faiths And Traditions — Dec. 7

In her article, school board trustee Cindy Watson asks how forbidding the distribution of Bibles can promote understanding and respect for all faiths. This is a very arrogant question to put forward, as it implies that all faiths should be respected. Why should non-religious people respect a text that states in Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”

According to a Dec. 6 article in The Record, the trustees have ensured that the materials “don’t denigrate any group protected under the Human Rights Code of Ontario.” I doubt that atheists and the non-religious are protected in this code, but by offering to facilitate the distribution of a faith-based text which calls those who don’t believe “fools,” we are clearly alienating and denigrating those innocent students who come from families with non-religious backgrounds.

Chad Hammond, Kitchener

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Non-distribution of Bibles would be fair

It is difficult to know where to start in refuting Cindy Watson's article, "School Bible distribution implies respect for all faiths and traditions”.

The Gideons are evangelical Christians whose vision is to "reach our communities ... so that people will have ready access to God's Word, that they might receive Christ as their Saviour and Lord".  This is obviously not "about including and respecting all faiths".

The WRDSB is a public school board charged with educating children from all religious backgrounds, including non-believers.  The Education Act allows instruction in religion, but subject to regulations which state that any program of religion in the public school system must cover all religions and contain no indoctrination in any particular belief system.How would the non-distribution of the Gideons bible devalue the opinion of Christian parents and children?  If there were no program to distribute bibles, then the issue wouldn’t arise, hence no supposed devaluation of their beliefs.   Christian families either own their own bible or have access to one at church, so there’s no need to distribute them in school.

Distributing Gideons bibles doesn’t constitute an "inclusive school environment" - it centres out children whose parents have opted to accept or reject the Gideons bible.  Children shouldn’t be forced into defending their parents' decision on this issue.

Discrimination occurs when one group feels superior to another group and attempts to dominate that group by force or by more insidious means. By all means, revel in your belief system, but don’t impose it on others.

Isobel Taylor
Treasurer, Society of Ontario Freethinkers (SOFREE)

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I am a retiree having worked for the Waterloo Region District School Board as a teacher and consultant for thirty years. I have been very appreciative of the work that the trustees of the WRDSB have done in support of the education of students in Waterloo Region. I am, however, quite dismayed by the Board's recent decision to continue to allow the distribution of bibles in the schools.

I would like to point out that as a grade five teacher in the 1970's and '80's, I had first-hand experience of the effect that the distribution of these religious books had on myself as a non-believer and on non-Christian students. Allowing for the distribution of bibles ran counter to my understanding that the public education system embraced students of all religions as well as non-believers, and did not force students to make a public showing of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. The Gideon bible distribution put me, as a non-religious secularist, in the untenable position of having to act against my beliefs and worse, it placed ten year old children in the position of having to either accept or reject a religious position that they were too young to fully understand.

I can only conclude that the trustees who have supported the continued distribution of bibles do so based on their personal religious beliefs. I would ask that they consider looking at the big picture and do what is best for the students and staff of the WRDSB.

As a voter, I will be considering this issue during the next municipal elections.

Larry Wayne, Kitchener, ON

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Public schools are no place for proselytization, says Interfaith Grand River

At its October 26 meeting, the Waterloo Region District School Board approved a request by Gideons International to distribute Bibles to Grade 5 students through the public schools. Nine trustees voted in favour of the request, while two were opposed.

Notes have gone out to parents of Grade 5 students regarding the Bibles. Any student whose parents sign the note and send it back receives a Bible.

For the Gideons, the purpose of distributing Bibles is to “lead people to faith in Christ.” The Bibles distributed to Grade 5 students actually consist of the New Testament, the books of Psalms and Proverbs from the Hebrew Scriptures, additional material describing biblical salvation and a form where students can record their confession of Jesus.

Interfaith Grand River is deeply concerned about the school board’s decision, about some of the media coverage of events surrounding this decision, and about expressions of intolerance in the community that have arisen as a result. It has issued a statement in response. View the IGR Statement as a PDF or scroll down to read it on this page.

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