A Call For A Serious Look Into Religious Discrimination

Part I Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 2 [Freedom of Religion, Speech, Association] Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief*, opinion and expression*, including freedom of the press and other means of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly and (d) freedom of association. As the above states everyone has the right to exercise the freedoms of their religion, every day. Those of us who do not follow the ways of the church (which has dominated the world for so many centuries) and are like myself, a pagan, are still facing constant discriminatory actions of others. Many of us are afraid to come out of our closets for fear of physical or mental harm. How can it be so? When in this country we should be allowed to live our way of life, yet still face the constant daily abuse like those of the Middle Ages? If our Charter of Rights is there to protect us, then it must be that the fault lies somewhere else, which must have been overlooked. Every day, we are attacked in ways so hurtful because it has been allowed to go on for far too long! Many of those who follow the church, use their religion against us pagans, as a weapon. Damning and condemning us, instead of learning our way of life, they still choose to throw the falsities in our faces. How are we able to get past this, if nothing is done to stop it? What is frightening is the level in which this occurs world wide, still. Mr Chetien, we ask that changes be made so that these types of religious discriminatory tactics cease. We call for an end to the falsities that have gone on for centuries and that have placed us here to begin with. We ask that laws be made and enforced that those who follow the church can no longer use their religion as a weapon to discriminate against us. Paganism is peaceful. We don’t threaten others to join us. We don’t make house calls to spread the word. We don’t threaten others simply because they choose to follow another path. We have never killed others simply because they would not follow our ways. We grow tired of this and wish to just live our way of life in peace. The freedom of religion in our Charter of Rights is a start, but in order for it to work, steps must be taken to nip-it-in-the-bud at the source. Mr. Chretien, we ask that you look into this matter with much seriousness. Much hatred and prejudices lie beyond all this and it is really unnecessary and uncalled for. Lies begat from long ago. From a religion that had no real knowledge of who we were but instead chose to create in order to frighten everyone into believing that paganism was wrong, as it did not follow their belief systems and therefore must be horrible. Giving itself the authority and means to destroy its true nature and anyone who followed it. Please help us. Stop this vicious cycle once and for all. We seek laws to put a stop to it, from where it began.