A pointless fight against prayer

It was predictable but unfortunate that some stubborn residents would not give up their fight to keep a Muslim prayer centre out of their neighbourhood in Waterloo.

The strongest arguments the residents could muster were too weak to dissuade Waterloo city council from unanimously approving a zoning change so a house on Erbsville Road could become a place of worship.

But now, undeterred and armed with a case that is still feeble, the residents’ group known as the Waterloo West Community Association is asking the Ontario Municipal Board to overturn the city’s decision and keep local Muslims from praying in that little home. The residents have every right to go to the board. Not every right, however, is worth exercising all the time. There are strong reasons to believe the municipal board will side with the city and allow the prayer centre to proceed.

Regrettably, however, defending its prayer centre proposal at the hearing will impose new pressures and costs on the local chapter of the Muslim Association of Canada. This group has already gone through a long, arduous process of winning the approval it needed.

One public meeting that was part of this process turned nasty when hateful comments were hurled at the group.

Nor was that an isolated incident. For many months, at least some of the resistance to the prayer centre was expressed in hurtful, anti-Muslim diatribes.

This is not to say that everyone opposing the prayer centre has dubious motivations. However, none of the most commonly voiced objections to the proposal withstands scrutiny.

Traffic is no issue. The property is on Erbsville Road, already a busy regional artery. The small number of people using the centre at any one time — estimated at between 20 and 30 — will hardly create gridlock.

Because the nearest homes are relatively far away, noise from the centre — which, after all, is for quiet prayer — should not be a problem, either.

Nor is there any substantial foundation for the fear voiced by some opponents that the prayer centre will be the first step toward having a larger community centre on the property.

Building a much larger community centre would require an entirely new and distinct approval process by the city.

Given all this, the prayer centre’s opponents will likely have a tough job convincing the board to stop the project.

But some harm to the greater community will, nonetheless, be done.

Some Muslims will feel they are being discriminated against and singled out for different treatment in a community where places of worship for many, many faiths can be found in almost every neighbourhood. They’re citizens of Waterloo. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to practise their beliefs, too?

For the sake of the harmony and unity in Waterloo, it would be better if the residents’ group backed off and dropped the board appeal.

If that doesn’t happen, we suspect the prayer centre will eventually proceed.

And when it does, the first prayers might call for better mutual understanding in this world.