Last spring, the Orangeville and District Ministerial Association decided to offer a scholarship or prize to a student in each of our Orangeville high schools to recognize their proficiency in the study of religion.

It was our understanding that each school had a course in world religions. We were mistaken. Orangeville and District Secondary School does offer such a program but Westside does not. I was disappointed to learn this especially in light of the current election debate over the funding of faith based schools. Ideally I would like to see a secular, publicly funded school system that taught and acknowledged the place of faith and religion in the lives of people and the affairs of the world.

This is not about evangelism for any particular religion but an understanding that the overwhelming majority of people see the world through a cultural understanding of things spiritual and divine. The more we know and can appreciate how others react to the big issues of life and death that define our values and ethics, the better chance we have to live in peace.

When Jesus taught us to love our enemies, I don't think that he was referring to an effort to embrace everything about them or even tolerate things that they do that offend or even hurt us. I think he meant that we must see all of creation as a revelation of God in the world and all people as striving to find happiness and peace in it. The clash of wills and values that erupts in violence is often based more on fear than on real offence.

Most violence in our world today and perhaps always is about fear of losing. Such loss can be as basic as having enough food or room to produce enough food to feed oneself and the next generation. We can fear losing our rights and freedoms. We can fear losing our identity or being forced to live in ways that are unfamiliar. We can fear losing our place in society as we become poor or helplessly sick or homeless. We can fear losing our power and influence.

Fear is often based on what we do not know about the future or the stranger in our midst or in another country. Information and knowledge can help us to overcome our fears and help us to find a way to live together in peace.

The bible speaks often about fear, teaching us to trust in God for our peace and security. The Bible also teaches us to honour and respect all people even the stranger in our midst.

My vision of a proper education would include the study of world religions that would make all of us aware of how all humankind longs to find peace in a relationship with the mystery of life that we know as God. A world relig i o ncours make us all aware of how important it is to know what we believe and how that effects how we understand the world and our place in it.

It should also help us to befriend and honour those who approach God in a different way.

The history of the role of religion in the affairs of the world is not a pretty one. Religion has been used to perpetrate many wars that are in reality more about power and wealth and fear than about protecting the true faith.

Misunderstandings and prejudice have killed more people than drought or natural disaster. To me it would be a sign of how the peace of Christ is moving through our society if we could open our minds and hearts to those who are different as we learn more about our own faith and its history of violence and injustice.

I would encourage Westside to offer a course in world religion. I would also encourage students in all schools to see a world religion course as an important way to grow personally and to develop a world view that promotes the peace and love that Jesus taught as being God's desire for creation.