The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, presented last Sunday an overview of the course called to replace that of Ethics and religious culture (ECR). Far from being banal, this gesture is in my opinion a historical marker. The government now embraces without reservation for the school environment a secularism known as “strict”, republican or of civic faith. However, I believe that by making this model of secularism an identity trait, the basis of “social cohesion” and a source of “pride”, the government is taking risks if it is not careful.
This type of secularism occasionally hides, under the guise of state protection against any confessional interference, an expression of mistrust and condescension with regard to religion. One can meet with some of its promoters a very little nuanced vision of religion. If we must believe them, it is in their eyes “a political and social danger to be eradicated” and, in the individual, the expression of a primitive and retrograde element from which he will one day or another have to free himself. .
It is to be hoped that the Culture and Quebec Citizenship course will take it upon itself not to go from one extreme to another. That of “everything to religion” for ECR, as perceived by the president of the Mouvement laïque québécois, to that of using, on the contrary, an antireligious prism favoring ignorance over the acquisition of a rigorous and quality religious culture. . Especially since the Caquista government has designated the replacement as the nation’s distinctive marker and the religious fact is there for good.
It is welcome that the announced course still leaves room for moral development and the learning of dialogue, which requires the presence of qualified pedagogues. Since these objectives are as noble as they are structuring for society, the Minister must ensure that training in this teaching is solid and sustained over time. The success of this “redesign” depends on it. Any negligence or lack of care in this regard would be another part of its dark side and assured bankruptcy.
Watch video