Letter to the Editor

To the Editor,

I was interested in Sunday’s Face to Face column about teaching the Bible in our schools, by O’Neill and Sims. I agreed with both writers.

Why would we not study the best-selling book in all of publishing history? Fully two billion Christian people in our multi-cultural world believe the Bible holds vital truths for living. Although it does not claim to be a history or science manual, the Bible is a sound, ethical, moral plumbline for all people.

In Canada, 67% of us report to believing the basic teachings of Christianity. Our Jewish friends use the same Old Testament as Christians do. If Muslims make up 2% of our population, Buddhists, Confucists and others are another 5%, why not at least give their sacred writings an appropriate overview in our schools?

Obviously, the amount of time given to various teachings should relate proportionately to the percentage of the students in each school who identify with a particular religion. I would love to have learned about the beliefs of my classmates when I was in school. Afterall, that’s what pluralism is.

Barry Buzza