Ontario’s Catholic leaders take strong stand against homosexual activism in schools
“We are very grateful to Ontario’s Bishops for listening to the concerns of the many parents regarding the perceived sexual agenda of the Ontario government,” said Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Catholics. “We thank them for releasing such a thoughtful framework which provides solid protections from those who may have an agenda not in line with Catholic teaching.”
now .. this is a wonderful start.. now to have all Christian denominations stand together and put a end to this liberal attack on our young. stand side by side and be involved they could eliminate this garbage and the libtard goverment behind it. good for them.
Good on the Catholics. It's true, bullying can be addressed w/o bringing gender or sexual orientation into the conversation. Bullying has been around as long as schools have. More kids are bullied for being overweight, skinny, clothing, tall, short, acne, red headed, freckles, etc., than for gender identity; unheard of even a decade ago, or homosexuality. The church is absolutely right: the emphasis on gender identity & sexual orientation is not justified.
So we should exclude the kids who ARE being bullied for being gay or for their gender identity? I guess we should only make specific children feel safe at school, so long as they pertain to our own narrow standards. Heaven forbid you actually acknowledge gay people as actually existing or having problems!
Don't brush off a very serious issue of kids being bullied for being gay to the point of suicide. If you're a homophobe, be a homophobe - just leave bullied gay kids out of it.
That's nonsense Saint.
No, it isn't nonsense. It's been twelve years since I graduated high school, and I can assure you that bullying kids on their perceived or acknowledged sexual orientation was an issue. The pejorative "gay" was starting to be thrown around then, and has become commonplace now. Effiminate boys (whether they were actually gay or not) dealt with verbal and physical harrassment, by both other boys and some girls. It IS an issue. It's not the only bullying issue, nor should it be the focus, but it does exist and should be addressed.
There's a whiff of condoning bigotry on the grounds of sexual orientation from the Catholic heirarchy regarding this. Not surprising. This is why I don't want my taxes funding this school board.
"It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done."Oscar WildeOr to slightly modernize: Using the best intentions of an ill informed society as their smokescreen, marxists do their best work - destroying freedom.Do you have any "bullying imam" problems, little brother? Wait a few years.
OISE and the teachers unions are a well of poison.
So is all bullying an issue, that is my point.
Blow it out your ear, Saintvlas22. Who said anything about "excluding" caring for the concerns of kids being bullied because they're gay? 'Seems to me you're the one angrily excluding people who hold religious beliefs, people whom you label "homophobes." (You're sounding a lot like a bully.)
Bullying has been around forever and is best dealt with on a case-to-case basis, with an adult staff member and the parties that are being bullied/are doing the bullying. As the Catholic statement says, "issues surrounding 'gender identity' and sexual attraction are
inappropriate for discussion in an open forum [emphasis mine], and ought to be handled
privately with counselors and chaplaincy staff," staff which the Catholic system has.
Why do the problems of a very tiny percentage of students have to become centre-stage while those who object on principled grounds are allowed to be bullied by the activist element of the LGBTQ crowd and the Ontario government?
Listen to what Education Minister Laurel Broten has stated in Xtra< of all places, under the Accepting Schools Act: there is “no more debate. If students want a GSA, it must be provided. I’m
confident our Catholic schools will work with students on this.” (I wish I could be confident that Laurel Broten would work in good faith with Ontario's Catholic schools on this issue.)
So, Saint..., what about the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression for the hundreds of thousands of Catholics in Ontario? Don't you brush off the very serious issue of people exercising their religious freedom rights and being bullied for holding their religious beliefs.
If you're a religious bigot, my suggestion is don't be a religious bigot -- and kindly learn the difference between being "a homophobe" and holding principled objections to the activist gay agenda.You come across as a bully and an anti-Catholic bigot. Is that what you intended?
Please read my reply to Saint..., ceruleanblue.
No one's saying that being bullied because you may be gay or perceived as gay isn't a concern. Certainly, the Catholic statement doesn't say this and I find nothing that smells of bigotry, as you allege, from the Catholic statement.
I do find the attitude of Saint-so-and-so and activist gays patently anti-Catholic and anti-freedom of religion rights for people of faith. Why do activist gays always have to be so narcissistic? They're not the only people with rights, nor are they the only people being bullied. I get a distinct whiff of bullying from the Ontario government and the LGBTQ crowd against people with religious beliefs that run counter to their agenda. Might I remind them -- and you -- that it's not all about them?
As for your not wanting your tax dollars to fund the Catholic school board, no one's forcing you to. You decide and that's your prerogative. My prerogative is to fund the Catholic board and I have done so for years, long before this ever became an issue.
Like the gay community left the hetro children out of the debate, go pound sand and take your emotive buddies with you.
I am glad someone with clout finally stood up to Mic Flinties socialist wet dreams......bullying has always been here from time began....it can be addressed without Mic Flinties stupidity....next he will want prostitutes to visit schools...to give courses on how to be one.../////
This has nothing to do with students' well-being but with pushing an agenda. Anyone who fails to see it and defends this nonsense insults everyone's intelligence.
We do more to coddle students than we do to actually make them useful, productive members. This gay bullying nonsense is just one more symptom of a sick education system.
Rubbish.
It's just another sucker punch to the Catholic education system.
If people really cared about protecting their kids from bullying, they would sign their kids up for tae kwon do. This farce is all about an agenda from a special-interest group.
If a kid IS gay, that alone will shorten his lifespan. Do the homework.
"...cruelty is cruelty and it's not to be tolerated."
Hear hear. My sentiments exactly.
batb, I know that you're not that naive to truly believe that when you check a box on your tax form they go directly to the designated school board. We both know that funds are channeled to where they're needed regardless of where you place your checkmark.
In Roman Catholicism, homosexual acts are considered contrary to natural law and sinful, while homosexual desires are considered "disordered" but not themselves sinful. while the Church does oppose attempts to legitimize same-gender sexual acts, it also urges respect and love for those who do experience same-sex attractions; thus the Catholic Church is also opposed to persecutions and violence against persons with same-sex attractions. Given that this is the official position of the Vatican, I fail to see how making a point of speaking out against bullying of gay kids or GSA's is against church teaching. There is no discussion of whether gay youth are engaging in gay behaviour, nor should there be, that's private and should remain so. But to prevent discussion on, or groups opposed to, persecution and violence against gay youth in Catholic schools is clearly in opposition to official church teaching and is bigotry, plain and simple.
Generally, the person being bullied is the weakest and most vulnerable individual. To suggest that they take up tae-kwon-do is trite. Are you suggesting that one boy go up against a group of males who are bullying him for being gay because he has taken some self-defense lessons? Did you go to high school? Reality isn't "The Karate Kid".
It is rather the responsibility and duty of those witnessing abuse to defend those who are weaker. Which, funny enough, is what a lot of these kids in Catholic schools are attempting to do by speaking out against bullying of their gay friends and forming GSA's.
Brush up on your Catholic doctrine. The Vatican is opposed to persecution and violence directed to homosexuals. For this Catholic school board to deny this is hypocritical.
We are in agreement on that point. No one is denying that bullying of all is an issue.
Kids in high school are attempting to form GSA's of their own volition, but are being prevented from doing so. Clearly, they are witnessing higher incidences of bullying directed towards their gay peers than any other targets. Because official Church teaching opposes violence and persecution directed towards those with SSAs, I fail to see how GSA's are in opposition to Catholic teachings.
They are not discussing gays fucking.
They are forming a highly visible group within their high school that sends a clear message to their peers that they will not tolerate their friends being persecuted.
I thought Catholics (and all Christians) were supposed to defend the vulnerable and persecuted, or am I wrong?
The problem is the anti-bullying programs are not balanced to include all students- many focus entirely on heterosexism, gender identity and sexual orientation - leaving everyone else out who is being bullied for reasons other than gender or sexual orientation.
Both gay and straight kids are committing suicide due to bullying and many other factors (problems at home, grades, breaking up etc). If preventing suicide is the goal then there should be a suicide prevention section in these programs, yet the ones I've read don't even touch on the topic except perhaps in the teachers guide as a statistic mentioning only the suicide rate for GLBTQ population.
The concept of heterosexism is relatively new and is also a significant part of anti-bullying programs - the subtle and not so subtle message in these programs is that only heterosexuals are capable of bullying not unlike the only white people can be racist rhetoric.
So, you think that if a person checks the public education system as the recipient of their taxes, the government's going to give their money to the Catholic board? Hmm. And you call me naive?
"There is no discussion of whether gay youth
are engaging in gay
behaviour ... how would you know? Who knows what would come up in discussion. The GSA's are highly politicized entities, being used by militant, extremist, gay activists to push their agenda into the schools. They're a beard, a Trojan Horse.
Gay students who feel persecuted or bullied can, as noted in the statement by Catholic leaders, go to a counsellor to discuss their concerns -- or, if they like, can meet in a GSA off campus. Nothing's stopping them from doing this.
GSAs and the Ontario government's Laurel Broten's fiat about them, through her interview in Xtra (hardly a neutral venue), are a battering ram on the part of militant gay activists. No one in the know is tricked or taken in by their tactics. GSAs aren't solely about bullying of gay students. There's a much bigger agenda here.
What militant activists? Are there 'gay agenda' sleeper cell agents in every Catholic high school in Ontario secretly influencing young people to set up GSA's? Are these kids being coerced, or pushed into setting up GSA's? What kind of conspiracy are we talking about here? What exactly are you implying?
Because gay activist groups support GSA's doesn't mean they are actively creating them.
Seems to me that because more gay people are coming out at a younger age and face discrimination at their schools, their friends (generally straight) are the ones trying to set-up GSA's in an effort to support them. The government is getting involved because they're being prevented by the school board from doing so.
What makes you think they will discuss gays fucking?And if they did, what then? Is this what you're concerned about?
The Catholic School board is allowing a 'Respecting Differences' club, which is just a new name for a GSA. So it's okay as long as you don't call it a GSA. This sounds like the gay marriage debate.
You said you do oppose persecution of gays. So you're opposed to persecution of gays but are opposed to a group that specifically opposes persecution of gays.
Hold on while I stop my head from spinning.
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