Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty is forcing all public schools (including those associated with the Catholic School Board) in Ontario to allow and host "gay-straight alliances". He must be taking lessons from President Barack Obama in the United States who is forcing Catholic entities to provide birth control coverage in their employee health benefits -- and that likely goes for nuns in convents. It's clear the small 'l' liberals have it out for Catholics and the whole Christian world with them.
The Catholic Board trustees have responded with an adamant "no" to the Premier in a twelve-page letter. And at least one liberal pundit has the gall to suggest they lack "charity and clarity" and says their latest "diktat" (an order or decree imposed by someone in power without popular consent) is just verbose and obstinate. Let me give you the reference for that just in case I'm accused of making it up. It's Martin Regg Cohn in the January 31, 2012 issue of the Toronto Star. He goes on to say the Catholic Church which preaches sexual "abstinence until marriage" is being inconsistent when they then turn around and teach sex education in high school. And so if they're inconsistent then, they can behave similarly about this issue of "gay-straight alliances" or clubs in schools. Now there's a lot of sense for you. First there's no inconsistency about the Church's position. Second, there is no comparison between the two issues. Abstinence is followed by marriage which is followed by sex. It is appropriate to have sex education prior to sex and thus since many these days get married after high school -- the best place to have it is in high school.
While abstinence, marriage, and sex have a sequence that is common and thus a more natural relationship with each other, gay-straight are two opposing sets of behavior notwithstanding those that choose to participate in both sexual currents.
But that's not what I'm all excited about. The premier believes and promotes one thing: no bullying and especially no bullying against gays and lesbians, etc. The Catholic Trustees must stay true to the beliefs of their Church and doctrine. Now, why can't we all get along and find some common ground that will take care of everybody? "Just how do you do that?" you may well ask.
Well, for starters Dalton feel free to force all school boards to be against "bullying" and yes, especially "bullying against gays and lesbians". Fair game. Don't tolerate bullying under any circumstance.
School boards, including you Catholic ones, must take every action to stop bullying, especially against gays and lesbians, and find ways to determine it's presence and then to penalize offenders. Necessary game.
But Mr. Premier -- stop telling people how to accomplish what you want. Just charge them and hold them responsible for results. You're micro-managing.
And besides, who said that alliances with respect to fundamental ideological issues can work? You cannot mix water and oil. If you could, then there would never have been a North and South Korea, there would never be Sunni and Shia factions of Islam, or currently a Pakistan and India, or one I am more familiar with -- a Turkey and Greece. Surely we should have learned something from the decades old mother of all non-alliances -- the Jews and the Palestinians.
Shame on Martin Regg Cohn for his weak arguments. Shame on Premier McGuinty for micro-managing. Shame on Obama for taking on the Church to advance his own political ideology. It's time we agreed on the end goal, and not force on various religious entities the ways and means to achieve them. If we do, we're not just pursuing a better world for all, but we're pursuing an agenda for some.
As a Christian, my responsibility is to treat a GLBT individual as a human being whom God loves for that is what he/she is. I do not need a forced gay-straight alliance club to do that. My responsibility is not to help him/her feel better simply by condoning that which God speaks against which is what he/she does. Forcing the Catholic School Board to have such alliance clubs is doing just that.
[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]
The Catholic Board trustees have responded with an adamant "no" to the Premier in a twelve-page letter. And at least one liberal pundit has the gall to suggest they lack "charity and clarity" and says their latest "diktat" (an order or decree imposed by someone in power without popular consent) is just verbose and obstinate. Let me give you the reference for that just in case I'm accused of making it up. It's Martin Regg Cohn in the January 31, 2012 issue of the Toronto Star. He goes on to say the Catholic Church which preaches sexual "abstinence until marriage" is being inconsistent when they then turn around and teach sex education in high school. And so if they're inconsistent then, they can behave similarly about this issue of "gay-straight alliances" or clubs in schools. Now there's a lot of sense for you. First there's no inconsistency about the Church's position. Second, there is no comparison between the two issues. Abstinence is followed by marriage which is followed by sex. It is appropriate to have sex education prior to sex and thus since many these days get married after high school -- the best place to have it is in high school.
While abstinence, marriage, and sex have a sequence that is common and thus a more natural relationship with each other, gay-straight are two opposing sets of behavior notwithstanding those that choose to participate in both sexual currents.
But that's not what I'm all excited about. The premier believes and promotes one thing: no bullying and especially no bullying against gays and lesbians, etc. The Catholic Trustees must stay true to the beliefs of their Church and doctrine. Now, why can't we all get along and find some common ground that will take care of everybody? "Just how do you do that?" you may well ask.
Well, for starters Dalton feel free to force all school boards to be against "bullying" and yes, especially "bullying against gays and lesbians". Fair game. Don't tolerate bullying under any circumstance.
School boards, including you Catholic ones, must take every action to stop bullying, especially against gays and lesbians, and find ways to determine it's presence and then to penalize offenders. Necessary game.
But Mr. Premier -- stop telling people how to accomplish what you want. Just charge them and hold them responsible for results. You're micro-managing.
And besides, who said that alliances with respect to fundamental ideological issues can work? You cannot mix water and oil. If you could, then there would never have been a North and South Korea, there would never be Sunni and Shia factions of Islam, or currently a Pakistan and India, or one I am more familiar with -- a Turkey and Greece. Surely we should have learned something from the decades old mother of all non-alliances -- the Jews and the Palestinians.
Shame on Martin Regg Cohn for his weak arguments. Shame on Premier McGuinty for micro-managing. Shame on Obama for taking on the Church to advance his own political ideology. It's time we agreed on the end goal, and not force on various religious entities the ways and means to achieve them. If we do, we're not just pursuing a better world for all, but we're pursuing an agenda for some.
As a Christian, my responsibility is to treat a GLBT individual as a human being whom God loves for that is what he/she is. I do not need a forced gay-straight alliance club to do that. My responsibility is not to help him/her feel better simply by condoning that which God speaks against which is what he/she does. Forcing the Catholic School Board to have such alliance clubs is doing just that.
[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]
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