Tag Archives: Canada

Quebec forces homeschoolers to teach moral relativism and religious pluralism

Story from the National Post. (H/T Canbuhay)

Excerpt:

In a recent troubling judgment (Lavallee vs. Commission scolaire des Chenes), Quebec’s Superior Court ruled that parents do not have ultimate authority over the moral or religious education of their children, and that the state can impose a curriculum that conflicts with the moral codes parents strive to instill. The court rejected a claim brought by parents seeking to exempt their children from the “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ERC) course, which in 2008 became mandatory for all students from Grade 1 to Grade 11, including students in private religious schools.

[…][The province maintains, and the court accepted, that parents’ constitutional freedoms remain intact since they are still free to instruct their children in their own moral codes in the privacy of home. But even homeschoolers, who frequently opt out of government schooling precisely because they prefer to instruct their children in their own belief systems, will be required to teach the “even-handed” ERC course or an equivalent course. Imagine parents instructing their children about the importance of adhering to their own religious beliefs in the morning, then telling them that there are a dozen other religions to choose from, all equally valid, in the afternoon. It’s ludicrous for the province to argue that such a process respects freedom of belief.

This is exactly the problem I have with some fundamentalists who don’t see the need to raise their children to have an impact on the world as a whole. I don’t think that the secularists are going to leave Christians alone, so as a matter of self-defense, we need to be the best in our fields in order to have an influence at the highest levels.

Many of the most ambitious people tend to be rabidly secular because they are usually the people who are least likely to want to give up their autonomy to the demands of the moral law. The higher they rise, the less they respect any external restrictions on their selfish pursuit of pleasure.

It’s natural for influential non-Christians to use the law and the public schools to suppress things that seem to limit their autonomy and pursuit of happiness, such as free speech, parental rights, etc. It annoys them when we disagree with them, and that we teach our children things they don’t believe.

Rather than having a live and let live attitude, they are not at all shy about using the law and the public schools to attack our basic human rights. In order to prevent that, we need to make sure that Christians are in position where they can defend human rights for ourselves, and everyone.

“Pleasure-based” sex education in Canadian classrooms

Story from LifeSiteNews. (H/T Andrew)

Excerpt:

Lianne George of Maclean’s magazine has penned a piece published this week on a new trend in schools’ sexual education offerings to focus on the pleasure of sex. Her article highlights the work of Toronto’s Carlyle Jansen, the owner of a ‘sex shop’ for women, Good For Her, who has launched a new not-for-profit organization devoted to offering free, “pleasure-based” sex workshops to schools and other groups in the area.

Jansen has long offered pleasure-based workshops through her store, but, according to George, a year and a half ago Jansen started getting calls from local high school teachers who wanted her to come and offer sex-ed to their classes. Since then, Jansen guesses that she has spoken to about 12 or 15 classes.

“Kids are taught to death about all the bad things that can happen to them if they have sex,” Jansen told George. “They’ve said, ‘We’ve heard about sexually transmitted infections, we know you can get pregnant, but we want to know about pleasure and we want to know about healthy relationships.'”

[…]Now, Jansen has helped launch the Sexual Health Education Pleasure Project (SHEPP) in the Greater Toronto Area, whose mission is “to provide free, pleasure-based sexual health education focused mainly on marginalized communities including youth, people of colour, women, queer and trans communities.” Course topic titles include “Negotiating what you want – in and out of the bedroom,” and “Cool, safe, and hot sex.”

A topic entitled “Re-visioning ‘pro-choice'” is also on the list, with the description: “Not just about abortion any more. Know your rights!” The group explains their vision of ‘pro-choice’ further on a page entitled ‘What We Believe In’. While the phrase is certainly used to designate openness to abortion, the groups sees it as including a broader range of sexual choices, including the freedom to exercise sexual license and the freedom to marry whomever one chooses.

The Maclean’s article is here.

Canadian man gets 4-year sentence for 100 sexual assaults on minors

Story from the Calgary Sun. (H/T Andrew)

Excerpt:

Convicted of sexually assaulting two little girls 100 times, day home operator David Watkins was yesterday sentenced to four years in prison.

After Watkins, 67, apologized to the families of the two girls and his own relatives for sexually touching the children at his Silver Springs day home, one for over a period of 15 1/2 months, provincial court Judge Allan Fradsham handed down a sentence sought by prosecutors.

[…]Watkins admitted to assaulting the girls, who were between the ages of six and eight, in the basement of his home while his wife, recovering from an injury, couldn’t venture downstairs.

Earlier in the hearing the mother of one of the girls calmly read a victim impact statement, detailing how her daughter is still too traumatized to sleep normally or sometimes use the bathroom.

“She still can’t sleep alone and she still leaves that shower curtain open,” said the mom.

“It’ll possibly haunt her for a lifetime — no child should ever have to feel so afraid.”

[…]Defence lawyer Jim Lutz argued Watkins had suffered family trauma due to his actions and that his crime was an anomaly. “The offence that occurred was out of character for him,” said Lutz, who asked for a three-year sentence.

The Jewish Talmud says:

כל מי שנעשה רחמן במקום אכזרי
סוף שנעשה אכזרי במקום רחמן

Kol mi shena`asa rahaman bimqom akhzari
Sof shena`asa akhzari bimqom rahaman

All who are made to be compassionate in the place of the cruel
In the end are made to be cruel in the place of the compassionate