Can pluralism be quantified?
July 15th, 2009 | Tikkun Daily
First of two parts || This article has been edited and is presented here in a slightly different way since its original publication. See Letters I’ve written for comments correspondence.
St Joseph's Oratory, a major Catholic landmark and tourist attraction in Montreal
I left Montreal three years ago. And I was very happy to leave.
Montreal is not a pluralistic city. It is a frankly racist city. People are accustomed to it: they make excuses for egregious and blatantly racist assertions, which most often come from Quebec nationalists who complain about the “ethnic” vote (meaning either Jews or Italians, depending on the context).
The news when I left was consumed the Bouchard-Taylor inquiry, formed by the provinicial government to report on race relations in Quebec. This would be a sensitive topic anywhere. In Quebec it was explosive.
Here is one example of how otherwise rational Quebecers consider minorities. Feel free to exchange the word “Jew” for the minority of your choice, depending on where you live in Quebec. The Bouchard-Taylor inquiry was bombarded with presentations that all basically asserted “Why can’t they be like us?”
Then the Town of Herouxville stuck its civic foot in its out-sized mouth:
6. CONCLUSION
Adding to the subject, we include in this report a document entitled “Way of life in Québec”, describing themorals, manners and customs of Quebec. This document strongly affirms the identity that one must seek when wishing to become part of the “Québecois” Nation. More so, we wish to manifest loud and clear that the values that forged the “Québecois” Nation over the last centuries must remain intact, as they constitute the unique francophone presence on the North-American continent.
The full text (in fractured but comprehensible English)
Different ways of wearing a hijab
This all began with the use of a hijab by a 12 year old girl who simply wanted to play soccer.
No, the competition organiser said. Head scarves are prohibited. Any number of institutional reasons were given, mainly absurd ones — especially when it came out that other, similar competitions elsewhere do permit hijabs.
The use of customary clothing is far removed from the western mind, which needs to assign a category (traditional”) to it. I have worn the customary clothing of Hasidic Judaism during weekdays, though I now do so only on Shabbat (the Sabbath) and Holy Days.
I stopped weekday use merely because the clothes I have really are formal wear and are rather heavy. The opportunity has not occurred for me to obtain a rekel but when it does I will gladly switch from Docks and Chaps.
My choice to be different is conditioned by my choice to be observant, and by the continuum of observance my choice to be observant includes.
I was not raised in an observant family. Even fervently observant Jews do not necessarily dress outside the norm, but I make the choice to do so. It imposes a discipline on me that is otherwise unattainable.
This is the dignity of difference, to borrow the eloquent phrase of Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom.
Cst. Baljit Dhillon in RCMP dress kit
A Sikh RCMP officer wears his turban on duty in this country. This was not without controversy. The dignity of difference is part of Canada’s social fabric outside Quebec, imposed by the framework of multiculturalism that is a legacy of 80 years of Liberal governments in Canada, a nation barely 145 years old.
I explore how to make the dignity of difference manifest in a rapidly changing, globalised world in Part 2 .
