Religious School Funding a Bad Idea

I think this is one of the first election's I've experienced where I did not know who to vote for. It seems that all three candidates running for the major parties are poor. I usually vote conservative but John Tory has struck a nerve with me on the issue of religion and schools. I consider myself a secular conservative, a Libertarian Republican to borrow a US term.

I strongly believe that church and state should be separated. To use an extreme example, take a look at Iran of pre-2001 Afghanistan. The merging of church and state clearly has been a negative for those countries. Here we try to keep them apart, and so we should. That is why Tory's plan to extend funding to faith based schools bothers me. There are two reasons why it does. First of all, why do we need multiple education systems when the public system is fine as it is. School is supposed to prepare one for higher education or the job market, not for religious instruction. That's what church is supposed to be for. I have been a strong opponent of the Catholic school system for that reason. I'm not one of these people who wants "God" removed out of every government context like many atheists in the US however, I don't think its unreasonable to keep it out of schools. This is yet another case of multiculturalism run amok. This country spends way too much time and effort trying to please everyone, which is impossible.

Secondly, there are also numerous economic factors that make this a huge problem. The Ontario government spends a huge chunk of the budget on public education. Despite what Liberals and teachers would have you believe, it is a very well funded system. However, full funding to faith based schools would put a serious strain on the budget. Now you may be saying "But Mike, I choose which school I pay for through my property taxes." Maybe so but 100% of education is not funded that way. Most money goes into a single pot and is dolled out according to what these schools "need". They'll all want new buildings, their own texts, supplies, hire their own staff, etc. to fulfill their "special needs" as a faith based institution. All that costs money, money that has to come from somewhere. By doing this, we will cheapen the public system and then we really will have funding issues. I don't like the idea of my tax dollars going to fund a system that supports something I don't believe in. My tax dollars don't fund the local church or mosque. Why should they go to find religious schools?

Yet another thing regarding religion and schools mentioned by Tory as also upset me. He supports creationism in schools. In an article with the Toronto Sun, he noted that he supports evolution as part of the Ontario curriculum but also would like to see students learn about the alternatives. The problem with these "alternatives" is that they have absolutely no scientific merit. Where are we, Kansas? Evolution is a proven scientific theory. Creationism, or intelligent design, or what ever the hell you want to call it has no place in public schools.

I want Mike Harris back.