by Deborah Gyapong

Canadian Catholic News (CNN) – As Canada defends religious freedom abroad), it must ensure religious freedom remains well-defended at home say religious freedom experts. « Any country that Canada wants to engage on issues of religious freedom is going to turn around and ask « How you are treating religious people in your country? » Laurentian Leadership Centre director and constitutional lawyer Janet Epp Buckingham told a panel on religious freedom Jun 4.

Janet Epp Buckingham, director of the Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa, thinks an office of religious freedom could help educate others in government about religious persecution Janet Epp Buckingham, director of the Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa, thinks an office of religious freedom could help educate others in government about religious persecution (photo Ashley Fraser/Postmedia News files).

In Canada, an aggressive form of secularism is pushing all religions out of the public square. « Christianity is extremely weak in this country, » she said, noting all religions should stand up against secularism which has set itself up « as a rival religion. »

« We live in a bit of a glass house, » said Conservative MP David Anderson who moderated the panel that also included Religious Freedom Ambassador Andrew Bennett and International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Chair Mario Silva in conjunction with the National Prayer Breakfast.

Bennett stressed the Office of Religious Freedom has a foreign policy mandate, but he urged Canadians of religious faith not to isolate themselves from the public sphere or to remain silent.

Canada’s institutions and system of law are based on Judeo-Christian foundations and our understanding of natural law, Bennett said. « We have a constitution founded on the supremacy of God, that’s in the very beginning of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. »

Canadians have a responsibility to understand the constitutional foundation of Canada, her Parliament and legislatures, the courts and to be active in engaging in dialog with other religious faiths and non-religious people, he said. « When we start to isolate ourselves we can’t do that. We have to understand the blessings we enjoy here in Canada that many other countries do not have. »

Most of the countries he will be engaging in the course of his work with the ORF involve countries where Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others are being killed because of their faith, he said.

Bennett stressed the foundation of freedom of religion is not theological or the preserve of Western liberal democracies but based on universal principles. « It’s about human dignity, » he said.

« Every society in the world must recognize the basic human dignity of all regardless of faith, » he said, calling human dignity « foundational for how we understand freedom of religion. »

« All of us have as human beings possess free will, God-given free will, and we must have the freedom to exercise this in matters of faith no matter where we live, » he said. « Each one of us seeks to understand who we are as human beings, how we relate to each other, how we relate to the world, how we understand who we are as humans, how we relate to God or to a philosophy we may choose to pursue. »

In the Charter the first freedom articulated is freedom of religion and conscience, he said. Canada’s free, pluralist society and the ORF wants to take principles such as freedom of religion, freedom of association, legal and democratic rights, the equality of men and women and « advance these principles around the world. »

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reports one third of the world’s countries have high or very high restrictions on freedom of religion, Bennett said. Since some of those countries are very populous, that means 75 per cent of the world’s population live where religious freedom is highly restricted or worse.

« Christians in particular are targeted both in terms of social hostility and government targeting than any other group, » Bennett said. « We are also speaking out on behalf of all groups facing persecution. »

« Religious freedom does not mean just freedom of worship, » he said. It means also the freedom to study one’s faith, to engage in missionary activity, the freedom to change one’s faith and the freedom to hold no religious beliefs.

Buckingham pointed out religion is usually practiced in community and many religions have particular requirements in terms of holy days, dress, diet and other restrictions. « Some are more easy to accommodate and others are more difficult and some come into conflict with the rights of others, » she said. She outlined numerous examples in Canada where religious practices have clashed with modern secularism, including the most recent example in Quebec forbidding Sikh men wearing a head covering from playing in official soccer leagues.

Internationally, a worldwide resurgence of religious fundamentalism makes it « imperative to ensure no one shall be subject to discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, » said Silva. « Those who threaten the conscience, religious practice, and the integrity and dignity of others have to be challenged, » he said.

Holocaust remembrance has been a crucial part of efforts to prevent genocide by reminding us of the past, he said. « Genocide and crimes against humanity still occur in many places around the world.