Kirpans

Now I've seen everything. A young Punjabi is allowed to wear a weapon to school. He is hailing it as an overturning of a grave injustice that forbad him to wear it previously. As a symbol to his undying faith in his religion, he must wear it, apparently at all times, wherever he goes.

The kirpan is a metal instrument which, according to some, is no sharper than a butter knife. Hello, metal can be sharpened to have a razor's edge. If this thing is simply symbolic, why not have it made of soft plastic? Can't sharpen that.

What's to keep this kid from being set upon by some bullies (bullies in schools have garnered a lot of media attention lately) who would then use it to harm other students?

The kirpan is supposed to be hidden (not done by this student in any photograph taken of him) and sewn into its sheath. If indeed he hides it, how do you check to see if it's sewn into a sheath without violating his "rights"?

Little old ladies are held for intensive questioning if they dare to sneak a set of nail clippers on board an airplane. Will no one say anything about allowing a kirpan on board? My mother-in-law had to send, by special post, a packet containing nail clippers, a nail file and sewing scissors to our home when she visited here recently. Perhaps she should have joined a religious sect that made carrying these items mandatory and she would have had no problem.

I can't say Merry Christmas or Happy Easter because it might offend some thin skinned, politically correct whiner, but this guy gets to wave his kirpan under our noses in the name of religious freedom. I'm sorry, but this country was founded on Christian-Judaic laws, not Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism. If you don't like it, go home. Why can't you keep your religious symbols at home or in your place of worship?

The liberal whiners say there has never been an incident where a kirpan has been used in an act of violence and Sikhs have been in Canada for 100 years. Fine. Let's keep it that way and remove the temptation from those who might.

By being so politically correct, we allow the gulf to grow between us in our differences from each other. Perhaps the USA has it right when they claim they are a melting pot of separate nations, instead of the multi-cultural mess that we have here in Canada. While it is commendable to welcome foreigners and accept their differences, it is quite another to have it forced down our throats.

A pendulum swings two ways and it seems to me that it is starting to swing back. Canadians are getting fed up with bending over and taking it without the aid of Vaseline. A severe backlash can be seen on the horizon.