The Debate Between Mark Steyn And The Muslim Petitioners Essay

Citizens all around the world want to be able to think and feel the way they want. In Canada, you have the freedom to think, feel, and express yourself in the way you want as long as it doesn’t harm others. In Canada, you have the right to think with a clear conscious and express your opinions without having to worry about people getting angry with you for feeling or believing something different from them. Your choice of religion is your to make without judgement. Everyone is different and everyone has different beliefs and in Canada, those beliefs are accepted and cherished. Take our government for example, some citizens believe the Conservatives should still be running the government and others believe that the Liberals should remain in control. In Canada, you have the right to gather and assemble without people trying to shut you down. Our government believes that if Canadians can express their opinions and believe their own thoughts then there will be less

The first amendment, the right of freedom of speech is one of the most important classic fantasy to almost anyone living in the United States, building the foundation of our nation. This right gives us plenty of different opportunities to express our opinions and political viewpoints on any issues in America. But it comes with a price, people have been protesting multiple different events trying to prevent people from expressing opposing opinions or political viewpoints on that has issues in America. For the minority of people, expressing a different opinion should be protected no matter how controversial or insensitive it may be.

One of the most misinterpreted aspects of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the freedom of expression. Group organizations have misused this much too often. In the past, many extremist groups have misused this right to protect themselves. A great example is the Westboro Baptist Church. This church is one of the many groups across North America that uses the Charter to protect themselves. The Charter protects them even though their actions and messages are harmful and not beneficial to society. If the Charter was to recognize these groups as dangerous, they wouldn’t have the chance to misuse these freedoms. Also, the fact that if a Canadian citizen were to use the excuse of the freedom of expression to defend their actions, they wouldn’t

Free speech is by far the most commonly recognized freedom in our everyday lives. The freedom of speech allows us to voice our own opinions without the severe repercussions of some countries. It allows us to say what we really feel and helps us learn how to communicate in true and meaningful ways. Along with this freedom, we must remember that there are limits to this freedom. While being arrested “you have the right to remain silent” and anything you say can be used against you in court. This freedom is not one to be taken for

The necessity to limit the rights and freedoms of Canadians is illustrated and reinforced through the governments use of reasonable limits, ‘notwithstanding clause’ to limit individual rights and freedoms, and the occasional need for the government to have power extended above and beyond the limits prescribed in the Charter.

The “Sons of Freedom” are a small radical group that diverged from a religious sect known as the Doukhobors.  This zealous and revivalist subsect evolved from the Doukhobors only to gain the government’s attention for their extremely radical acts.  They have initiated bombings, arson, nudist parades, and hunger strikes, all in protest to the land ownership and registration laws of Canada.  Such obscene and violent demonstrations have caused a great deal of conflict between the Sons of Freedom and the Canadian government’s legal system and have also generated much public resentment.  However, should the State of Canada have imposed laws upon this minority group that blatantly conflicted with their religious beliefs?

Fear in itself is something to be feared. Fear is the primary source of insanity and chaos. Fear alone sent the Puritan society of Salem, Massachusetts into a state of utter hysteria in the year 1692, when one of the world's most infamous witch hunts occurred. Arthur Millers play, The Crucible, is a historical fiction depicting the events of the Salem Witch Trials. A witch hunt is a political campaign launched on the pretext of investigating activities subversive to the state. Every witch hunt is identifiable by the five key elements; the use of a scapegoat, a struggle to maintain moral order, a subversive character or group, an outbreak of hysteria and panic, and ulterior motives that provide

With the government’s public service force not being allowed to wear religious clothing, this right is being compromised. Workers who do wear religious clothing were being stripped of their freedom to practise their religion, and the PQ is thus in violation of another section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Additionally, section 2 clause (b) presents the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. This too is being dishonoured, as religious clothing is a form of expression of one’s beliefs, and the government was looking past this. While some may argue that Section 1 of the Charter declares that the Rights and Freedoms are set out with “reasonable limits” there is little reason in the argument presented by the PQ. These reasonable limits are why general public decency and dress codes are permitted, however, there is no reason to limit the wearing of religious

Canada adopted multiculturalism as an official policy, which allows the value and dignity of all Canadians, regardless of their racial origins, language or religious affiliations. Plus the status of two official languages, French and English. Canada promotes multiculturalism by encouraging Canadians to participate in all aspects of life. Regardless of their background, anyone can participate in social, cultural, economic, and political affairs. Everyone is equal to one another. Everyone has the right to be heard. These rights are provided to us through our Canadian constitution and our charter of rights and freedoms. Some people come to Canada and have a history of hate towards an ethnic group. Promoting hatred is not permitted in Canada. You have the right to have your own ethnicity in Canada but you must also respect others right to do the same. Canada has experienced racial and ethnic tensions. But the majority of Canadians are fair minded. We will accept and respect them that will accept and respect us. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the freedom of religious expression. For those who are new comers to Canada, you may contribute to this country’s diversity. But you need to be prepared to live in a

The 1st amendment right in question is whether the schools suppressing of Mr. Harper’s speech was in direct violation of the 1st Amendments freedom of speech and the freedom exercise rights. The freedom of speech through expression of any concept, thought, idea, or notion on medium is protected as long as it does not inflect harm upon others. An applicable test to apply in a case of this nature would be the Tinker Test. The tinker test is employed to determine whether a school’s disciplinary actions violates students’ First Amendment rights. In this case the test would figure out whether the students’ religious banners and or posters distributed other students’ classwork or the rights of others. In addition to the Tinker Test, the precedent

Bill C-51 gives the government the ability to deem a broad range of activities as potential security threats. It violates the Canadian Charter of Rights under the freedom Act, the act states; everyone has the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media communication, so long as the expression is not violent. Bill C-51 clearly violates the act due to the fact that one cannot show a belief, thought or opinion of any activity that the government “may” see as a threat to security. The public will become silenced by the government without the freedom to express their thoughts and/or opinions on political

Free speech is the backbone that holds democracy together.  Without a free speech, ideas would not be challenged, governments would not be kept in check, and citizens would not be free.  John Stuart Mill said once that, “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person then he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”( Roleff, 21). The right to free speech is essential to “egalitarian democracy,”(Tsesis) however, this right is not absolute and must be limited in certain situations.

Ever since September 11, 2001 Americans along with the majority of the world’s population have been skeptical of Muslims. It’s a sad reality but it’s hard for people to think of a Muslim without linking them directly to terrorism. But these assumptions aren’t totally out of the blue—the Muslim’s religion, Islam, teaches a low tolerance for other religions and the Islamic government has no separation of church and state, so it’s only normal to assume that their government shall have a low tolerance as well—some however, immediately translate this into terrorism. Through the Islamic government and religion, relations with foreign countries, and separation amongst themselves it can be concluded that Islamic Fundamentalism is clearly a threat

Free speech should not be restricted.  The first amendment gives the right for anyone to say whatever he or she wants, whenever they want and guarantees us the privilege to speak our minds without limitations.   Our right to free speech is one thing that sets the United States apart from any other country.  Since September 11, 2001 all

Sharia law is an ancient compilation of religious rules that most Muslim nations seek reference in governing their people. Also defined as Islamic law, the essence of sharia laws emanated from the life of Prophet Mohammed known as the hadiths as well as the Quran teachings. The hadiths entail the vocal expressions of prophet Muhammad on divine life and his condemnation of immoral behavior that undermine the acceptable way of life. The teachings are accepted by the Muslim community who affirm that Muhammad’s teachings supplement the functionality of the Quran. On the other hand, the Quran, which forms the core reference on Muslim beliefs and regulations provides moral and spiritual guidance among the Muslims. It also dictates how the Muslims should interact with the non-Muslim community without contravening on the sharia doctrines (Hallaq 20-25).