Systemic Failures Fail Canadian Muslimas

Two separate articles in the National Post detail how systems put in place to protect the vulnerable and serve the interests of the larger society have utterly failed, in no small part due to the obeisance we feel we must pay to the dark gods of political correctness. The first instance of system failure--recounted by Christie Blatchford in her superb ongoing coverage of the Shafia trial: authorities investigated the dysfunctional Shafia family, found clear signs of abuse, but did nothing substantive to protect the four who were ultimately (allegedly) murdered by their abusers.

The second instance of system failure: the role the Toronto District School Board is playing in serving the interests of sharia and its repression of young women. Chris Selley attended a fraught meeting of pro-and-anti-mosqueteria types. He writes:

After a long back-and-forth, one astute gentleman sliced through the debate like a hot kirpan through holy water. The issues as laid out by [TDSB coordinating superindent Jim] Spyropoulos, he said, had nothing to do with religion at all.

"Students were going to religious instruction," he said. "The issue was safety and the instructional time they were losing."

"If the issue is transportation and safety and the intersection, get crossing guards," he suggested. "Get a bus. Get the community to provide transportation there and back."

Eureka! Islamophobes and secularist jihadis aside, this would address everyone's concerns. It would ensure the pub-lic school day remains free of religious proselytization and the perceived negatives that go with it. And it would eliminate the question of choice.

One Grade Eight Valley Park student insisted students face no pressure to pray and no consequences if they don't, that gender segregation "just makes sense," and that not praying during menstruation is a welcome "exemption," not an insult.

This girl kicks ass and takes names, by the sounds of it.

"We are not stupid and we are not weak," she fumed.

But as yet another very astute attendee noted, the fact so many children weren't making it to mosque on their own raises doubts. Attendance is up since the prayers were moved. 

It's not a public school's place to facilitate children's attendance at religious services - that's private family business. The very idea of a student feeling pressure to fulfill an unwanted religious obligation on public school property, during the school day, turns my stomach.

The TDSB seems not to care about any of this.

The TDSB--like those who failed the Shafia quartette--is obviously far more concerned about being accused of "Islamophobia" than it is about doing what's right.