Sikh Ceremonial Dagger

I just read this news article on CBC.ca, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation web site. Here are the first two paragraphs to give you an idea of what's happening.

"A Montreal boy can now wear his Sikh ceremonial dagger in the classroom after Canada's top court unanimously overturned a ban on the kirpan.

In its 8-0 judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday that a total ban infringed on Gurbaj Singh Multani's guarantees of religious freedom under the Charter of Rights."

So what they are saying is that it's OK to bring a knife to school? Here's more.

"Manjeet Singh, the Sikh chaplain at McGill and Concordia universities, who also assisted Gurbaj Singh's legal team, said baptized Sikhs believed the kirpan is a symbol of courage, freedom and responsibility to stand up for their rights.

"It is one of the five articles of faith that every baptized Sikh is supposed to have on their person, all the time," said Manjeet Singh."

So what about on airplanes? How do baptized Sikhs get this knife through security? I'm guessing they don't and that it's not a big deal to them because they understand the circumstances of todays world. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt there. I would think that bringing a knife into school would fit into the same category.

I don't think anyone is saying that because a Sikh boy brings a knife into school that he's going to use it but a potential weapon is now in the school that anyone could have access to. This puts Sikhs in as much danger as Christians or Muslims or Athiests or Jews or anyone else.

Check out section 2 of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Fundamental Freedoms

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

1. freedom of conscience and religion;
2. freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
3. freedom of peaceful assembly; and
4. freedom of association.

You can read the rest here at a Government of Canada site. That link goes on to say this:

"Even though these freedoms are very important, governments can sometimes limit them. For example, laws against pornography and hate propaganda are reasonable limits on freedom of expression because they prevent harm to individuals and groups."

I know I'm just a musician but it would seem to me that not allowing this ceremonial dagger into school would be a reasonable limit because it prevents "possible harm to individuals and groups." Sometimes I wish I understood politics better so that this kind of stuff would make more sense.