Dear Editor:
The City of Burnaby has declared October to be Islamic History Month. I'm against this for a few reasons. While the mayor says few resources are devoted to it, there are some and this could have been be an instance for politicians to say no once in a while. If you're part of city hall's media machine, money is involved. How much is hard to say exactly, but it is something. It all has to be kept track of, proclaimed, arrangements made, etc.
Local governments should not be concerned with religion. They have enough to deal with regarding taxes, roads, traffic lights, sewers, sports fields, and permits. Very mundane, everyday stuff. Burnaby is following Ottawa here, but they don't have to. Let Ottawa deal with complex issues.
One idea that has always been strong in Canada is freedom of religion. We never had a state religion like some other countries, where the government favours one religion over another. Historically, this has been highly contentious.
People can now support any religion they wish, but to me the key is it ought to be done as privately as possible. They shouldn't need the assistance from the local governmental bureaucracy to do so. Sometimes less is more.
Ben Griffin, Burnaby
