A grasp of this elementary fact could provide a better understanding for, and empathy with, a small country besieged by hostile powers on its borders.

Yet this fact often escapes people living in countries of continental dimensions with large spaces empty of inhabitants — as in Canada, the U.S., Russia, Australia and the E.U. — and they may, ironically at times, display a chauvinism reflecting the size of their country.

The fact of how small Israel is territorially, and how this fact deepens its sense of vulnerability, weighs down upon anyone who visits the country.

As I write sitting at a cafe on Tel Aviv’s waterfront, I remember how this city and Haifa to the north were targets of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf War.

Israel is merely a dot relative to the Arab world, and yet made responsible, in the logic of the anti-Zionist bigots, for the problems of the Middle East and the inability of the Arab-Muslim culture to deal with the challenges of the modern world.

Canada has a very large number of religious schools - mostly Catholic - it's even entrenched in the constitution.  But if a Province wants to change the Constitution in this regard, they only need the Federal parliament to agree and not the other provinces.  As well as Catholic schools, there are schools run by other faiths but they are not supported by taxpayer dollars.  This subject has been discussed in other articles on Cobourg Atheist - go here for more.

But in Britain, faith based schools are getting more attention and they are all supported by the taxpayer and are clearly a bad thing.  For example, Muslim schools instil in their children the idea that the Qur'an is the supreme authority on any and all subjects.  Not only does this promote bigotry and a lack of tolerance of other religions and other people, it also makes the teaching of clear thinking and science much more difficult.  Children have the right to be educated but also the right to learn how to think for themselves and decide for themselves.  With this concern, Richard Dawkins has now produced a documentary film (below) about this problem in the U.K.

In 1890, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll wrote about the U.S. Constitution and his words have relevance to today's discussion on the source or basis for law and morality - for all countries.  According to Wikipedia Colonel Robert Green "Bob" Ingersoll (1833 -1899) was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism.   If you prefer, he has a Facebook page - no doubt set up by fans.  The article is long but if you have the time, it is worth reading.  See the full text here.