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This Remembrance Day, soldiers and veterans can rest assured that they will no longer be subjected to the indignity of hearing military chaplains reciting offensive religious prayers, using nasty words like “God,” or wearing “traumatic” religious symbols.That’s thanks to a new “spiritual reflection” directive by Brigadier General
Chaplains will instead offer “spiritual reflections” that are “inclusive of the religious and spiritual diversity of Canada,” that “ensure that attendees are reasonably able to identify with the words being uttered” and that have been screened to ensure they “employ a language mindful of the Gender Based Analysis (GBA+) principles.J.L.G. Bélisle that bans these apparently discriminatory practices.
Bélisle claims this new ban on religious prayers is required because of the “strict standard for religious neutrality” set by the Supreme Court of Canada in the 2015 case Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay . This reflects a common misunderstanding of the right to freedom of religion in Canada and what Saguenay actually says. As the judges explained in that case, the Charter guarantee of freedom of religion prevents the state from favouring one religion or one set of spiritual beliefs over all others but it does not require pushing religion out of public space
Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month!
All that they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill...and be killed
- Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket