I was listening to CBC radio this morning (up here in Orillia we get "Ontario Morning Today") and there was a segment on the Lord's Prayer being read in the Ontario Legislature. I sent an email to the CBC (and to my MPP who was one of the interviewees) after hearing the segment, and thought I'd share it with the world...
What do YOU think?
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Hi there,
I’m emailing in response to your story this morning about the Lords Prayer in the Ontario Legislature.
Both interviewees on the program repeatedly referred to this as “Dalton McGuinty’s thing” and stated that they have better things to be doing with their time and our money….
This sort of disdain is a way of minimizing what is actually a very interesting issue. I want to point out that, regardless of Dalton McGuinty’s own motivation behind this (which I’m not myself convinced are purely altruistic), it’s still important to think about this issue. Just because people/constituents don’t complain about something that’s happening, doesn’t make it ok. The fact is, this province is incredibly diverse – in ethnic, linguistic, and religious terms (not to mention many other types of diversity), and I would hazard a guess that this level of diversity is not even remotely represented in the legislature. I would also hazard a guess that many Ontarians (like myself) did not even realize that the Lords Prayer was read in the Ontario Legislature.
I’m a social work student and I’m doing some research on Hospice services and how they are responding to ethno-cultural diversity in their communities. It’s not like people are out there pointing fingers at Hospices saying – you’re not serving us, you’re discriminating, etc. But just because people aren’t complaining, doesn’t mean we can ignore the fact that this type of service is primarily being utilized by people of Canadian-born, white-Euro, Christian backgrounds. Without spending the time and money, and without allowing ourselves to feel a little bit “uncomfortable” in the process, this discrepancy could continue unnoticed for decades or longer. But that doesn’t make it right. Similarly, with the reading of the Lords Prayer in the Ontario Legislature, we could continue ignoring this imbalance for many years to come, but that doesn’t make the practice of reading it “right”. In societies like ours that are primarily “governed” by one dominant ethno-cultural group, I think there is a danger of leaving something like this “as is” because it costs too much to explore the issue, to do something about it, and let’s be honest - because what we’re doing suits us fine and no one else has noticed it yet.
In my experience, when something like this has “always been done”, it requires some serious critical reflection (which often leads to discomfort) in order to actually recognize it as an issue, and then to follow that recognition with action geared towards making a change. I’m not saying that the Lords Prayer should or should not be read. I’m simply saying that I think the process of review and public consultation is a valuable one, and that those who are involved should give it some more thought before disparaging it on provincial radio.
As humans, I truly believe we need to start thinking about WHY we do what we do, rather than just blindly assuming that it’s the “right” way of doing things. Because blind belief in certain ways of being and living and doing – that is how discrimination begins...
Regards,
A.S.
Orillia, ON
