Tarot course ill-fated

The Province
Rec center cancels it after complaint from resident
A North Vancouver recreation center cancelled its “Tarot for Teens” course after a resident complained about the witchcraft religion being taught through a public institution.
“When I saw it, I said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is ridiculous,”‘ said Natalie Hudson, a North Vancouver teacher who is changing careers.
She wrote to the North Vancouver Recreation Commission to ask that the course be dropped.
“I felt very strongly that since we’re supposed to be a pluralistic society, this was inappropriate,” she said. “Tarot cards come under witchcraft and sorcery.”
She said teaching about Christianity and Buddhism isn’t allowed in public institutions. “I don’t think necessarily that religion ought to be kept out of the schools and we should all be running around as atheists,” she said.
“But if we’re going t make the decision that religion doesn’t belong in public, if we can’t say the ‘Our Father’ in our schools, why should they teach about tarot cards? There’s an ideology there, too.” Hudson said she feels similarly toward Harry Potter and television programs such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. “I think there is a cultural fascination [with witchcraft] and we start legitimizing it [especially to teens] by celebrating it,” She said.