I'm an Atheist Who Hates Quebec's Secularism
Posted: 09/24/2013 7:59 am
Toula Foscolos.
Former News Director, columnist, and current freelance writer
My taxi driver, a beautiful dreadlocked Haitian man blasting classical music from his radio, tells me it looks like it's going to rain. At the red light, three giggling schoolgirls wearing multi-coloured hijabs cross the street. An Asian teenager with short bright purple hair glances up at us from her book, sees nothing of interest and goes back to reading. I once lived in a place where everyone I knew and everyone I interacted with for 10 entire years was Greek. It was lovely and it was fine, but this version of 'lovely and fine' has always suited me much better.
The above paragraph served as my Facebook status a few months ago, when the Charter of Quebec Values was first introduced by the PQ. It was a status that was heartfelt and honest, written hastily in the back of a Montreal cab, on my way to board a train bound for Toronto.
It was a status that received a barrage of 'likes' from friends, and was immediately shared by many others. Why? I suspect, because it had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with people. It resonated because it reduced a proposed piece of legislation down to its nuts and bolts; down to the mere possibility of laws legislating appearance, good will, perception, and the way we choose to interact with one another and co-exist in this messy, maniacal, multicultural maze we call a metropolis, but is still very much an overgrown village.
I'm a person who loves chaotic culture shocks. I thrive on them. I like living in a town surrounded by people I don't get, because, I've long come to the realization that I don't need to get them, to respect them. It's profound comfort and acceptance in who I am and what I believe in that allows me to navigate my life in such a way that I don't feel I have to justify my choices to anyone. It's what allows me to understand that others, in turn, don't have to justify theirs to me. All that is required is mutual respect and acceptance. Not tolerance -- acceptance.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/toula-foscolos/charter-of-values-quebec-feminism_b_3975950.html
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