Fear of “Things that are different”

Recently I heard of a situation where some parents in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador were upset that a group of Gideon’s had visited schools and handed out copies of the New Testament to the children there.

Perhaps the adults involved were Hindu or Muslim or Jewish or atheist or for that matter they may have been "Born Again Toenail Worshipers". I don’t know the reason for their ire and I honestly would rathe not know because it might scare me too much. I have to say that this incident bothers me like very few have, and anyone who has read my articles knows that I bother quite easily.

You might wonder why this upsets me so. Doesn’t everyone have the right to freedom of religion and why should another one be forced upon them you might say? You would be right of course, but is that what was happening here? Was another religion being forced down someone’s throat or was it simply a case of, as Canadian songwriter Burton Cummings once put it, “Passing out Bibles”?

With crime levels in North America rising faster than the price of oil and the moral standards of most developed nations going into the toilet, what is the harm in simply making religious literature available to our youth.

Religion has been taken out of the schools, but these institutions are still supposed to be a place of education. I can understand the line of thought that might not want specific religious ideology promoted in the classroom, but why not give our future leaders at least a chance to understand various religious concepts by accepting mainstream literature if they choose to do so?

Why not let the students who want to accept one of these testaments "take one away"? (sorry Burton)

What harm could it possibly do?

Many of the problems the world is facing today can be traced back to a basic lack of understanding of anyone or anything that is considered different in some way. So what’s the issue with kids who are of a specific religion being given an opportunity to learn more about it, or allowing those of other faiths (or no faith) the opportunity to learn about the religions of others?

Fear of “things that are different” is what leads to mistrust, hatred, terrorism and war. It is what keeps the world from actually doing what is right for everyone rather than simply their own "group", whatever that may be. It is what ensures that those who look, sound, act and speak the way we do are all treated the same way while those who are different from us are treated differently.

We see it all the time in many aspects of our daily lives, not just religion.

People always find ways to separate “us” from “them”. We refer to blacks and whites, Protestants and Catholics, Rich and Poor, upper/middle and lower class, women and men and in our own Province, even as Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans. People always want to label everyone else so they fit neatly into nice little compartments that supposedly identify who they are.

It doesn’t work people!

The reality of the matter is that there is only one category not many. That category is simply “People”. No matter how much some may try to hide the fact, it remains just that, a fact.

I may be overly idealistic, but I can’t help but feel that the more we know about our fellow beings on this plant, the more likely we are to treat each other fairly. The more likely we are to help each other out and the more likely we are to accomplish great things. Since religion has played such a pivotal role in the development of world cultures, reading the religious text of other ideologies may just be a step in the right direction.

By sectioning each other off into neat little boxes with tidy little labels we only become more and more alienated from each other, retard our progress and ensure that hatred and fear survive.

As the old saying goes, “united we stand, divided we fall”.

Is passing out a few religious books in Newfoundland and Labrador schools really that bad? I don’t think so, in fact, I would suggest that someone also hand out copies of other mainstream religious texts, the teachings of Chairman Mao, the writings of Confucius and any other documents that have touched the psyche of large populations over the centuries, either for good or for bad.

People just need to open their minds a little wider. I promise it won’t hurt too much.

Education is a wonderful thing and it might just help all of us to understand each other just a little bit better.

What’s wrong with that?