The topic of secularization has been very much at the forefront of religious discussion in the recent past. In God in the Classroom: The Controversial Issue of Religion in Canada’s Schools, Ottawa journalist Lois Sweet brings new focus to an area where she believes secularization – or conversely, religious indoctrination and intolerance of other ways of thinking – begins: in school.

Sweet’s study is both far-reaching and engrossing. It also has the rare quality of being unabashedly fair. In her quest for an answer as to whether institutions themselves should be religious, or whether religion should be included in course curriculum, Sweet is exhaustive in examining the possibilities. She spends much of the book looking into the validity of each possibility, and leaves it to the reader to decide what works and what doesn’t.

Sweet gains yet more credibility by conducting a substantial number of interviews. Among others, for example, she talked with students at both Protestant and Catholic high schools in order to see how they felt about religious instruction and the concept of a private, religious educational institution. The diverse responses of these students, some surprisingly negative, allow for a deeper under-standing of the issues at hand.

To show the inclusion of religious discourse as a positive tool of instruction, Sweet also examines Jewish parochial, Sikh, and Muslim schools in Canada. School officials state that institutions like these are not designed to alienate, nor to create a sense of elitism, but to preserve cultural values, and to give young people a sense of who they are and where they come from.

Sweet considers too, the Dutch way of thinking, which over the years has become more humanist than religious. More specifically, in the Netherlands, a country known for its tolerance and open-mindedness, people have the right to give meaning and shape to their lives as long as their actions don’t prevent others from being self-determining. Sweet points out that the Dutch understand the difference between integration and assimilation, in that newcomers aren’t expected to sacrifice their identity in order to be accepted. She suggests that Canada, given its constant demographic shifts, can learn some valuable lessons from the Dutch philosophy.

Sweet’s study is a valuable one, and sheds light on issues that are often sensitive. It must be said though, that as her discussion delves beneath the surface, the writing style improves. In the opening chapters, she leans toward colloquial language, using rhetorical questions to broach topics, and beginning her answers with conversational words like “so,” “I guess,” and “anyways.” Sweet doesn’t need to rely on a soft approach; the questions she raises are valid enough to be tackled head on.