What can South African faith organisations do to prevent similar action here?

The Government of Quebec has produced recommendations that would further restrict religious expression by law. The National Council of Canadian Muslims has been raising the alarm about what those proposals would mean in practice.

Why this matters here

These are separate processes in separate countries, and it is worth being precise about that. But the direction is the same, and it is not a coincidence.

In South Africa, the CRL Rights Commission’s Section 22 Committee has proposed a legislative framework that could open the door to state regulation of religion. Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) has been raising the alarm about it. SAMNET shares that concern and supports the campaign against it.

What Quebec demonstrates is how quickly a proposal of this kind moves from a commission’s recommendation to a statute — and how much harder it is to resist at the second stage than the first.

So what are we doing about it?

That is the question SAMNET has been putting to Muslim religious leadership, and it is the reason this post exists. A campaign that is waiting to see how the process turns out is not a campaign.

NCCM on the Quebec recommendations.

Contact SAMNET on info@samnet.co.za or WhatsApp 084 333 3979.

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Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of freedom of religion.