How can a purpose paragraph promote equality when only one religion is mentioned? The Mosaic Faith Society is disappointed by the new purpose clause in the school.
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
It is not only the Human-Ethical Federation and the Pupil Organization that are dissatisfied with the new purpose clause for the school, but also the Jewish minority in Norway is disappointed.
- We do not have a lack of religious freedom in this country, but we lack equality in the legislation. Such an exclusionary attitude should not be expressed, but it does in the new purpose clause, says head of the Mosaic Faith Society, Anne Sender, to Ny Tid.
After a broad settlement between all the parties in the Storting, the school now receives a purpose paragraph with a stronger emphasis on Christian and humanistic values than originally proposed by the government.
- That Christian values as a starting point is not very inclusive. There are also other religions and beliefs that have equally good values, Sender points out.
- Looking back paragraph
Parliamentary Representative Akhtar Chaudhry (SV) sat in the Housing Committee which drafted the proposal for a new purpose paragraph. He does not want to say that he is disappointed with the new section, but at the same time believes that the opposition must take responsibility for the fact that in Norway there is now not reduced religious affiliation, but rather the opposite.
- We could have received a purpose paragraph all of Norway would have been happy with, but when both the Human Ethical Association and the Mosaic Faith Society do not like what we have been given, we are just as far. The point is not that the majority should be satisfied. Now the section is retrospective, not forward-looking, says Chaudhry.
Harry Rødner, who works at the Jewish Museum in Oslo and is also a member of the Mosaic Faith Society, believes the purpose paragraph is intended to satisfy all parties.
- If we are to have a purpose statement we should have something that means something, not something that can be interpreted in all ways, says Rødner. He believes the settlement has provided a purpose paragraph full of contradictions.
- Equality is mentioned, but how should children be taught equality if only one religion is mentioned? Rødner asks, pointing out that the purpose paragraphs in other Nordic countries are far more neutral. The new Norwegian Purpose Paragraph states that "Education shall be based on fundamental values of Christian and humanistic heritage and tradition." In the school's purpose paragraph in Sweden, Finland and Denmark the word Christian is not used.
The headmaster of the Nansen School and a member of the Housing Committee, Dag Hareide, were surprised in the work on the new purpose paragraph about how much religion has a place in both the Constitution and the school context in Europe.
- I thought Norway was the exception, but that is not the case. In countries that have many private schools, such as the Netherlands and Ireland, Christian purpose clauses are very widespread, there are also in Germany and Poland, says Hareide.
He is pleased that we are getting an improved purpose paragraph, but believes the compromise in particular contains one new and problematic formulation.
- The reference to national cultural heritage is clearly exclusive and problematic until the term is interpreted and you know what it means and what place the minorities get, says Hareide.
