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Religious Rights and Québec's Ethics and Religious Culture Course

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2011

Alison Braley
Alison Braley*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
*
Alison Braley, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N5W 3N5, [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

Abstract. Until very recently, the “orthodox” liberal view had assumed that the right to the profession and practice of one's own religious values encompassed the right to instil particular religious values in one's children. This view has been challenged by sustained analysis of the role of children within liberal theory, given the basic tenet of the equal moral worth of persons. This strand of liberal thought questions the extent to which parental rights to direct children's upbringing can include a right to form children's basic value sets. With this challenge comes a stronger basis from which to also challenge the idea that parents may legitimately oppose certain aspects of the state-mandated curriculum on the basis that such education may impinge on the values they wish to instil in their children. This paper will examine the controversy surrounding Québec's “Ethics and Religious Culture” course within a framework that seeks to put the interest of children first, as well as how the religious rights of parents and children might be understood in this context.

Résumé. Naguère, l'opinion libérale voulait que le droit à la pratique et à la profession de sa propre religion et de ses valeurs comprît le droit d'inculquer ces valeurs religieuses à ses enfants. Depuis un certain temps, cette position est remise en question à la lumière d'une analyse soutenue des droits de l'enfant, vu la primauté du tenant de l'égalité morale de tous les individus dans la pensée libérale contemporaine. Selon cette analyse, il n'est pas acquis que le droit du parent de voir à la formation de l'enfant comprenne le droit de lui imposer des valeurs de base particulières. Cette remise en question donne lieu à une réévaluation plus concrète du droit des parents de s'opposer à certains aspects du programme d'études établi par le gouvernement sous prétexte que ceux-ci nuiraient à leur droit d'inculquer des valeurs particulières à leurs enfants. La controverse au sujet du cours d'éthique et de culture religieuse au Québec est revue dans un contexte qui place en priorité le droit de l'enfant. Il est question du rapport entre les droits des parents et ceux des enfants concernant la religion et l'éducation religieuse.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 613 - 633
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2011

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