character essentially equivalent to Galileo's being ordered by the Inquisition to deny the Copernican universe," the judge wrote in his 63-page decision Surveys Several polls had shown the Quebec population to be polarized around this course. While 45% opposed the course in October 2008, 72% wanted parents to be able to choose the moral and religious training their children will get at school: the new ERC course or a traditional denominational religion course. In May 2009, the proportion of Quebecers wanting this choice had risen to 76%. Jewish community response On May 28, 2009, the Canadian Jewish News announced the formation of a grassroots organization to represent "a response of Orthodox Judaism to the Ethics and Religious Culture program." The organization, calling itself the Council on Jewish Education in Quebec, commended the Quebec government for championing the cause of universal friendship among human beings, and for identifying "Recognition of Others" and "Pursuit of the Common Good" as values to be taught. However, the organization contended that because Orthodox Jews are required according to Torah law to limit their study of theology to the theology of the Torah, the curriculum should consist of the Noahide Code. The "Hade'ah Vihaddibur" online Orthodox Jewish weekly newspaper reported a comparable sentiment expressed by the Israeli halakhic decisor Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. Consistent with this response, the Montreal Gazette, in an op-ed published on June 6, 2009 (p. B6), noted that Quebec Jewish school curricula are exclusively loyal to the theology of the Torah. References External links Official curriculum Summary of the court challenges Quebec's new creepy curriculum Ethics and Religion generates debate Ethics and religious culture: The New Post-Modern Catechism. Religion and education Education in Quebec Multiculturalism in Canada