Category Archives: News

Ontario government-run schools deny parents opt-out from pro-gay curriculum

Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau
Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau march in gay pride parade

Remember the curriculum that was designed by the Liberal Party child pornographer? Well, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne isn’t going to give parents any opt out from it for their children.

Life Site News explains: (H/T Tim and William)

If anyone doubts that Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government will overrule parental rights in favour of its inclusivity agenda on behalf of LGBTTIQ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, intersex, queer and questioning — students and parents, the evidence — literally — points clearly and abundantly to the fact that it will, and is.

And if anyone doubts that teachers in the public school system are encouraged to bring up references to LGBTTIQ issues in any and all subjects at their discretion, because equity and inclusivity is embedded in the curriculum, again, the evidence is in.

That evidence is found in the opposition factums in the Steve Tourloukis case, heard June 23 by Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Reid, and in which the Wynne Liberal government intervened on behalf of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, as did the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.

“Requests to exempt students from the very portions of the curriculum that promote diversity, inclusivity and acceptance cannot be granted without the risk of appearing to endorse the non-acceptance of students of other races, sexual orientations, family backgrounds, gender expression and gender identities,” states the Attorney General of Ontario’s factum.

[…]“Children who are themselves LGBT, who had LGBT parents, family or friends, or who had experienced homophobic or transphobic bullying based on being perceived as LGBT, could feel less valued and accepted if the Applicant’s children left the room every time people like them or their family or friends were discussed,” stated the document, submitted by lawyers Josh Hunter and Emily Bala.

The government lawyers argued that, given “the Legislature’s pressing and substantial objective of ensuring that public schools are accepting, inclusive, and diverse,” it follows that “permitting the Applicant’s children to leave the classrooms whenever planned lessons communicate acceptance of different family backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expression would undermine that Legislative purpose.”

HWDSB lawyer Mark Zega argued much the same.

“How could the Board provide an accommodation that would forbid a teacher from stating that there is nothing wrong with same-sex marriage and allowing a child to leave class every time such a topic arises, when the Board is required to discourage homophobia in schools?”

This, he stated, “would amount to an implicit condemnation of person who have suffered prejudice and stereotyping, and who have been singled out on the basis of their sexuality.”

Christian parents are allowed (and even required by law) to pay taxes that pay the salary of the Ontario premier, the Ontario attorney general, the Ontario judges, the Ontario lawyers, the Ontario school administrators and the Ontario teachers. Their money is good enough for the Liberal Party and for the government-run public schools that serve the Liberal Party. But their human rights are not good enough for the Liberal Party. Only the human rights of the Liberal Party and their allies matter.

Let’s look at the particular case where this all came out:

Tourloukis, as readers may know, is the Hamilton dentist and father of two who asked his public school to give him advance notice when teachers would be presenting on a number of sensitive subjects, so he could decide if his children could opt out, if they risked being exposed to “false teaching” according to their Greek Orthodox faith.

These topics included, among others, “discussions or portrayals of sexual conduct that he determines to be unnatural/unhealthy (anal sex, oral sex, sadism, masochism, fetishes, bondage, etc.),” and “discussions or portrayals of homosexual/bisexual conduct and relationships and/or transgenderism as natural, healthy.”

When Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board refused his request, Tourloukis launched a legal action in 2012, asking for court declarations that he has final say over what his kids are taught in school, and that the school board’s refusal to give him advance notice violates his Charter rights.

[…]Tourloukis was informed “that all educational materials could potentially conflict with his stated objective, as equity and inclusivity principles are integrated and embedded within Ontario public education and within the Board,” noted the board’s factum (emphasis added).

The Ontario government argued the same.

If the Tourloukis children were permitted to opt out at their father’s request, they could end up “missing a substantial portion of the school year given the breadth of the Applicant’s religious objections, including in particular the fact that principles of equity and inclusive education are embedded throughout the curriculum the Board is mandated to teach to all its students” (emphasis added).

That LGBTTIQ issues could be raised in any subject is clear from the 2014 update of the Equity and Inclusive Strategy (EIE), first introduced in 2009 under then education minister Kathleen Wynne, herself a lesbian “married” to another woman.

The EIE Strategy aims to help school boards move “beyond tolerance and celebration to inclusivity and respect,” stated the Attorney General’s factum.

The updated guidelines “note that the principles of equity and inclusivity need to be reflected throughout the curriculum and learning materials so that students can ‘see themselves reflected in the curriculum’.” One example is “using texts written by gay/lesbian authors.”

As I said before, this was all done with the consent of false Christians over the last few decades – when economically illiterate “Christians” became obsessed with feelings and peer approval to the point where they were willing to vote to expand a secular leftist government in order to get free health care – which now means free sex changes, free IVF, free birth control, free abortions, etc. This was more important to Canadian “Christians” than their own freedom of conscience and religious liberty. In Canada, Christianity is shallow, anti-intellectual and disconnected from practical realities.

If you want to know how things will go in the United States, you should look north to Canada. They are about 5-10 years ahead of us. It’s very important for Christians to take note of what gay activists and their allies in secular leftist parties like the Liberal Party or the Democrat Party are doing to put gay rights above religious liberty rights.

Virginia governor vetoes religious liberty bill, calls freedom of religion an “oxymoron”

Gay activist vandalizes pro-marriage sign
Gay activist vandalizes pro-marriage sign

The Weekly Standard reports:

Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia decried having to “veto a so-called ‘religious freedom’ bill. It’s such an oxymoron,” on WTOP radio Wednesday.

The bill that McAuliffe vetoed is a short one, and simply states that religious organizations or clergy should not be required to participate in the solemnization of marriages and should not be penalized for their refusal to do so. Its language specifically aimed to protect the actions of those “with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”

It is not uncommon for Democrats to question religious freedom legislation, saying that it goes beyond defending religious freedom and into anti-LGBT discrimination.

[…]Upon celebrating the Supreme Court’s blocking of Texas abortion restrictions, McAuliffe said that Virginia was a few years ahead of the Supreme Court, and that these laws were enacted to shut down “women’s health clinics,” which, according to Gov. McAuliffe, “operate with no profit margin as it is.”

“I’m a very fiscally conservative, pro-business Democrat,” McAuliffe said directly before rebuking a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly to scuttle government funding for Planned Parenthood.

Every day, it seems like some new assault on Constitutional freedoms by secular leftist fascists who want to force their views on others using the power of the government.

Here’s what Jesus says about marriage.

Matthew 19:1-11:

1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8

He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.

Terry McAuliffe thinks Jesus is wrong about that, and everyone who votes for Democrats like Terry McAuliffe affirms that Jesus has no authority on moral issues.

To be a Christian, minimally, is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. That means that we accept what Jesus teaches, on whatever he teaches about. We don’t overturn the teachings of Jesus in order to make people who are rebelling against God feel better about their rebellion. It is central to the Christian worldview that Christians care more about what God thinks of them than what non-Christians think of them. But I do think that we need to do everything that is legal to protect our religious liberty, so that being faithful is no harder for us than it needs to be.

Alistair Begg preaches on practicality and initiative in the story of Ruth

Bible study that hits the spot
Bible study that hits the spot

I finished listening to Alistair Begg’s series on Esther, and I’m now on to his series on Ruth. Sermon #3 stood out to me, because it touches on the important issues of free will vs determinism as well as the two methods of seeking God’s will: mysticism vs wisdom.

The discussion centers around Ruth’s decision to go to the barley fields to work, in order to get something to eat.

The MP3 file is here.

Here is the description:

When we’re facing a future devoid of prospects or possibilities, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged. Ruth could relate. She was a penniless widow in a foreign land seeking a way to provide for herself and her widowed mother-in-law. Her future was totally dependent upon someone showing her unmerited grace and favor. Instead of giving up, she gives us an example of humility, initiative and faith as she seeks work and sustenance.

As things in the world spin out of control, it’s important to remember that you must always have a plan and be working on that plan. Even when things look very bleak, you have to do something reasonable and practical, and then pray to God for “favor”. That God will do something unexpected that will make your reasonable action bear unexpected fruit.

If you want to listen to sermons #1 and sermon #2 in the series on Ruth, you can find the whole series here. So far, I have listened to 5. The first two were also very good, so if you listen to the first 3, you will definitely benefit. Each one is 35 to 40 minutes.