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The Stand Up for Youth contest was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Human Rights Program of Canadian Heritage.

This project is a joint effort with:

Freedom of Religion

1. What is freedom of religion?

For some people, religion reflects a world vision, provides a reason for living and helps overcome life’s hardships. Religion has played an important role in many societies throughout the ages.

Freedom of religion in Quebec means that people have the right:

To believe or not believe in a religion
To openly declare religious beliefs
To demonstrate religious beliefs (for example, through prayer or teaching)
To be free from having another person’s religious beliefs imposed on them
Not to be forced to act contrary to their beliefs

Freedom of religion protects the right to believe in a religion as much as the right not to believe. While it’s true Geeta’s parents are entitled to their beliefs, it is equally true that Geeta has a right not to believe in them.

Freedom of religion is not limited to protecting religious beliefs. It also protects religious practices. For example, a law prohibiting Jews from eating kosher meat would infringe on their freedom of religion. However, the law does not protect religious practices that threaten other people’s safety or rights and freedoms.

Also, no one can be forced to practice a religion. For example, an atheist (someone who does not believe in any god), could not be forced into religious practices, nor could a school force students to recite a prayer before class. By forcing all students to do this, the school would infringe on the freedom of religion of those students who don’t want to pray.

What the Convention says...

The countries that signed the Convention undertook to respect a child’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

However, these countries also agreed to give parents the right and the duty to guide their children in the exercise of this freedom. In other words, under the Convention, a child’s parents still have a certain authority over the child.

The Convention also recognizes that freedom of religion is not absolute. Governments can limit it in certain circumstances. For example, a government could decide to limit freedom of religion when it threatens other people’s safety.

Read Article 14 of the Convention.

2. Can a child who doesn’t share her parents’ religious beliefs choose her own religion?

Parents have the freedom to provide their children with a moral and religious education based on their own convictions.

But the law also holds that children can choose their own religion beliefs and practices, or refuse to participate in their parent’s religion, when they are mature enough to do so.

In Quebec, contrary to some other places, there is no legal age at which a child can decide to follow or not follow a religion. There are no clear rules on when a child is old enough to make this choice. It depends on the circumstances, the child’s maturity, etc.

Also, it is important to make sure that a child who opposes her parents’ religious practices is truly exercising her right to freedom of religion. In other words, is her refusal really based on religious convictions, or is it simply an excuse or capricious behaviour?

In Geeta’s case, is her refusal only an excuse to play videogames? You be the judge!

You can see that it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between the right of parents to give their children a religious education and a child’s right to her own religious beliefs.

And to complicate matters, something else must be considered: parental authority.

3. What is parental authority?

As you probably already know, parents have custody of their children. They also supervise, educate, feed and protect them, etc.

The law refers to these parental rights and obligations as “parental authority”. As a general rule, parents exercise parental authority over their children until they become adults at the age of 18.

Parental authority gives parents the power to make all the decisions necessary to ensure their children’s well-being. Examples of these decisions include:

Which school to attend
Where to live
Which daycare to attend
Consent to medical care required by a child’s state of health

What the Convention...

The Convention recognizes that parents have rights and responsibilities toward their children. For example, both parents share responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children. (Article 18)

The Convention says that parents, in accordance with their financial resources, have primary responsibility for providing living conditions that will enable their children to develop physically, mentally, spiritually, morally and socially. (Article 27)

A child is also entitled to not be separated from her parents, unless it is necessary and in her interests, for example, when she is mistreated. (Article 9)

Read Articles 9, 18 and 27 of the Convention.

4. Can Geeta’s parents ignore her wishes and “force” her to follow their practices?

Parental authority means that parents must sometimes take decisions that won’t please their children, but are in their best interests. For example, parents are entitled to punish a child who skips school by grounding her. These parents are exercising their parental authority.

Parental authority gives Geeta’s parents the right to say “You will follow our religious practices, and that’s final!”, provided this decision is not contrary to her interests.

Decisions taken by parents when exercising parental authority must always have the child’s well-being as the main objective.

In some situations, a child or one of her parents can ask a court to review a decision taken regarding the child. The judge will decide if the parents exercised their parental authority in keeping with the child’s rights and best interests.

A judge can overturn a decision of parents. For example, the courts have already ruled that Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot, on religious grounds, refuse a blood transfusion that will save a young child.

Of course, the stakes in Geeta’s case are not as serious. But the question remains whether her parents’ decision to punish her is contrary to her interests.

Every day, parents make decisions involving their children, and they are very rarely challenged in court. But the courts sometimes get involved when a child’s interests or her rights and freedoms are at stake.

What the Convention says...

The Convention says that all decisions regarding children, whether taken by parents, teachers, judges, the community or politicians, must be taken in their best interests. (Article 18)

Children also have the “right to participate”, which means the right to freely express their opinions about decisions that affect them. (Article 12)

The extent to which a child’s opinion should be taken into account depends on the child’s age and maturity. And even when children have a say, parents retain the right and the duty to guide children in the exercise of their rights under the Convention. (Article 5)

Read Articles 5, 12 and 18 of the Convention.

Points to Consider:

Now you know more about freedom of religion and the rights of children and teenagers. Consider these points when you are giving advice to Geeta and answering the contest question:

Is Geeta old enough to make her own decision?
Is Geeta’s decision based on her convictions, or is it just a pretext?
Are Geeta’s parents violating her freedom of religion by punishing her?
Does the freedom of religion of Geeta’s parents give them the right to transmit their religious values to her against her will?
Are Geeta’s parents acting in their daughter’s best interests?

Links toward Éducaloi:

The Ethics and Religious Culture Course:
www.educaloi.qc.ca/en/publicforum/story68

Parental Authority:
www.educaloi.qc.ca/en/loi/parents/151/

External Links:

Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse :
www2.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/pages/default.aspx