Christians ordered to teach Wiccan, pagan rites

[Locutus]

via bcf:

A dispute over whether government can require Catholic schools to teach Wiccan and pagan rites as equal to the Ten Commandments and the resurrection of Jesus is heading to Canada’s highest court.

“Faith-based educational institutions should be free to live and operate according to the faith they teach and espouse,” said Gerald Chipeur, Q.C., of the Canadian firm Miller Thompson LLP.

“If the government can force Loyola High School to violate its faith, then the government can do the same to others,” said Chipeur, a lawyer affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

The battle is over a government program adopted in Quebec in 2008 called “Ethics and Religious Culture” that is mandatory for all public and private schools. It presents all religions, from Christianity to Wiccan, “as equally valid” and requires schools to teach the beliefs in that fashion.

It also bans teachers, including those at private, denominational or church schools, from expressing their opinion that their own school’s faith is preferred.

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Christians ordered to teach Wiccan, pagan rites​

 

[Mowich]

And it harm none
Do what you will

 

[gerryh]

This school does not object to educating students about the diversity of faiths and what makes each faith distinctive, but the government should not require a Catholic school to tell its students that the Catholic faith is no more valid than a myriad of conflicting faith traditions,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Brett Harvey. “All faith-based institutions must be free to speak and act consistently with their faith.”
Read more at Christians ordered to teach Wiccan, pagan rites


Another example of Quebec crossing the line.
​

 

[gopher]

And it harm none
Do what you will

Happy Beltane to all!

 

[taxslave]

So all the cults that claim they got a direct line to the one true god are afraid someone else might just be right and they are wrong? A fair number of christian holidays were stolen from Paigans or celts.

 

[gopher]

So all the cults that claim they got a direct line to the one true god are afraid someone else might just be right and they are wrong? A fair number of christian holidays were stolen from Paigans or celts.

That is 100% true. Christians stole a lot of holidays from pagans. But in a bit of irony the one day they did not use was Beltane which was the pagan day of peace. If anything this should have been the day to honor Jesus as Prince of Peace.

 

[petros]

Woohoo I'm off to the khalsa to learn how to worship dirt like a Wiccan.

 

[damngrumpy]

This is a little out there I admit while I agree a faith based school is in an awkward position
the school should obey the law. They can do that by stating the Wiccan faith has a lot in
common with the Christian Church.

New Year was a celebration of pagan beliefs
Easter was a celebration that hijacked the fertility celebration of the pagans
Halloween another It became all Hallows Eve
And Christmas was the first day of winter celebration

The church oppressed all pagan celebrations and punished those who believed their own faith
saying the Church was superior
It is a bone of contention for all faiths claiming one is better than another
the beliefs of the pagans were distorted by the Christians and now others are distorting the
Christian beliefs for their own purposes.

Never mind faith based or anything else the church like every other institution be required to obey
the law period no more special treatment.
As for forcing the church to take this particular stand is high handed and not required

 

[The Old Medic]

Sheer stupidity in action. Whoever placed that requirement on religious schools is a complete and utter idiot!

 

[BornRuff]

It presents all religions, from Christianity to Wiccan, “as equally valid” and requires schools to teach the beliefs in that fashion.

Meh, it seems to make sense that schools should have to tell their students the truth at some point.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I don't think the school should be teaching any religion at all.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I don't think the school should be teaching any religion at all.

Apparently the Almighty Creator and Master of the Universe can't work His Holy Will without the state cramming it down people's throats. Leastways that's what the god-botherers seem to be saying.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Apparently the Almighty Creator and Master of the Universe can't work His Holy Will without the state cramming it down people's throats. Leastways that's what the god-botherers seem to be saying.

Re-reading my comment, the "the school' should have been refering to all public schools. Catholic schools are IMHO private schools and should be free to teach whatever religion they choose .... of course not with any public funding. The system we have now is pretty frucked up.

 

[petros]

Prior to public funding the only place to get an education was through a church funded school.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Re-reading my comment, the "the school' should have been refering to all public schools. Catholic schools are IMHO private schools and should be free to teach whatever religion they choose .... of course not with any public funding. The system we have now is pretty frucked up.

I understood your comment as you intended it, and I agree. Private schools should teach anything they damn well please.

I was talking about the continual insistence of the god-botherers that we need more laws forcing their religions on sane people.

Prior to public funding the only place to get an education was through a church funded school.

Not true, but even if it was, so what?

 

[petros]

Not true? Really?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Not true? Really?

Yep, really. Private, non-church funded academies go back at least to Plato and Aristotle. Galileo ran one. Private tutors, either teaching the children of a single family, or setting up shop and teaching (and sometimes boarding and feeding) children for fees were a standard part of all European societies, and still are. I don't know about Canada, but the U.S. has many, many private schools that are funded by neither churches nor governments.

 

[petros]

Anyone could attend?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Anyone could attend?

No, not anyone. First, you needed to have money, and second, you needed to be of the race, class, and any other limiting qualifications set by the particular private school.

But how is that relevant? You said, and I quote, "Prior to public funding the only place to get an education was through a church funded school." (Emphasis mine.) I've just demonstrated that assertion is false.

It's also completely irrelevant to the topic.

 

[petros]

Then it wasn't a modern open school following a standardized education was it?