Evangelical Christians: Quebec vs. the United States

There was an interesting article on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen today involving Evangelical Christian schools in the Outaouais region. Apparently a few schools on the Quebec side are refusing to teach evolution and sex education, instead applying their own curriculums and ideas of what should be taught. As it turns out, the Quebec Ministry of Education requires all schools to follow set standards in terms of what is taught in schools where students aged 6-16. These schools do not follow that requirement, and the school boards responsible for the regions where they are located have filed complaints. Therefore, the diplomas which the students from these schools receive will not be recognized anywhere in Canada. There have also been calls to shut down these schools if they do not comply with the law.

In Ontario, the situation is a little bit different. The school boards must only ensure that a certain percentage of time is devoted to set subject matters, but there is no requirement to teach evolution or sex education like there is in Quebec.

I find this to be a really fascinating situation that shows the discrepancy between Quebec and the United States (and Ontario, to a lesser extent) in regards to religious tolerance. Quebec deserves a big round of applause for enforcing secular values based on fact. I have always been disgusted in the need of most religions to indoctrinate children into believing their drivel. It shows a certain sense of insecurity in their beliefs. If they were so convincing, would people not adopt these religious values en-masse when they have reached the age of reason? Instead, we feel the need to teach children about virgin births and creationism from the moment of birth. In the US, we have seen the complete opposite effect, in which teachers and parents do not want children to learn about evolution -- and this is accepted. Because, as we know, they do not want children to find out that their great book is wrong. The earth is flat, too!