The ruling, in a case brought by the private Catholic Loyola High School, is excellent news for those who believe in freedom of religion and in parental choice in education. However, the ruling sends the government, and society in general, back to Square One in the matter of teaching about religious tolerance and the equality of religions in the public sphere.
The ERC course, with its no-religion-is-more-right-that-any-other theme, was part of Quebec's too-often-panicky approach to the whole problem of accommodating and integrating religious and other minorities. There might well be a need to ensure that no Quebec schools are systematically producing religious bigots, but mandating this course was using far too big a hammer for the job. Loyola has given Montreal a steady stream of distinguished citizens; we haven't heard of any religious fanatics among them.
A strong majority of Loyola parents had asked that their children not be taught the mandatory ERC course, since it prevented the school from teaching from a Catholic perspective, which is after all the purpose of a Catholic school. When the government refused an exemption, Loyola's administration was emboldened to go to court. It has now won vindication for freedom of choice across the board: Other religious high schools will surely apply the ruling, and public schools will also have to grapple with the problem.
That's fine. This ill-conceived denial of religious orientation in the teaching of ethics won't be missed.
Judge Gerard Dugre said the government's bullying imposition of the ECR course "assumes a totalitarian character" like that of the Inquisition. True enough: The course has more to do with freedom from religion than freedom of religion.
But there is an irony in the comparison: The Inquisition was after all was an extreme expression of religious, not governmental, intolerance of differing views. While there's plenty wrong with the way the ECR course was imposed, the impulse behind it is not purely wrong-headed.
We need to find ways to be sure that newcomers to Quebec understand, like those who have been here for generations, some basic truths: that while we are free to choose our faith, we also have obligations to respect and allow the same freedom to others. And while much of our culture is deeply rooted in Christianity, neither it nor any other religion can claim power above and beyond the laws.