Free Speech Canada - An Oxymoron

There's definitely a moron in there somewhere...

Free Canukistan has a pretty good wrap up of the big 'Ann Coulter' scandal/non-scandal/scandal. National Post also has a round-up of the American reaction to Canadian hospitality/PC ridiculousness. Lorne Gunter puts in his two cents. Univ.of Ottawa doesn't quite defend itself.

Too bad that students are getting a bad name over this debacle. It's really their parents' fault. Parents have been allowing the public schools to teach ridiculous political correctness and liberal faux values for decades. Check any public school board mandate for 'social reconstruction' ambitions. Canadian parents are a) too trusting and dependent on government, to the extent of abdicating their parental responsibility to properly educate their children. b) too lazy to figure it all out c) too selfish to care. Take your pick, the result is the same.

I'm speaking from my high horse, of course, since we long ago abandoned the public school system and took on the full responsibility of educating our own children. (We had the advantage of family example , Catholic/Christian imperative, and a familiarity with the public school system and the field of education- my husband has 20 yrs. as teacher/principal, most of it in Canada). Not everyone can or should homeschool, but it is an option for some. Everyone should hold the gov't responsible to provide education that is mandated by the taxpayer, not by left wing academics (like Mr. Houle of today's notoriety) who live in liberal lalaland.

Ann Coulter's response :

Since arriving in Canada I've been accused of thought crimes, threatened with criminal prosecution for speeches I hadn't yet given and denounced on the floor of the Parliament (which was nice because that one was on my "bucket list").

Posters advertising my speech have been officially banned, while posters denouncing me are plastered all over the University of Ottawa campus. Elected officials have been prohibited from attending my speeches. Also, the local clothing stores are fresh out of brown shirts.

Welcome to Canada!

I am Canadian, so I feel no remorse in hoping for maximum humiliation for those making us laughingstocks of the 'free' world, and the intelligent world, and the real world.

The Scandal of Badly Formed Priests

Normally I do not like to criticize the clergy. I like to pray for them. However, when a priest puts on public display his dissident beliefs it does need to be pointed out.
Here is a recent example of a badly formed priest who is president and vice-chancellor of a purportedly Catholic university, who makes a statement that is scandalous. (Even an unbeliever would realize the scandal in Fr.Paul Rennick's statement!)

LifeSiteNews:

...LSN sought comment regarding the school's decision to invite Cokie Roberts, a pro-abortion Catholic news analyst who has criticized the Church for preaching against homosexuality and contraception, to address the school as part of the "Christian Culture" lecture series.

Fr. Rennick told LSN that he had "personally vetted" the selection of Roberts and chose her because she was "a woman of faith," a "well known Catholic" and "successful as an individual Christian."

LSN asked Fr. Rennick, "Do you think there is a possibility of scandal from the fact that she has professed very pro-abortion views and has criticized Catholic bishops for teaching Church doctrine on homosexuality and contraception?" The President of the Catholic University replied, "No, I don't."

Asked to elaborate, Fr. Rennick said: "If you look at the catholic population, you'll find a whole variety of positions on all of those topics. It seems to me that disagreement on a particular position doesn't disqualify one from being a Catholic. Unless, of course, that position is whether Jesus is the Christ."

"Abortion is not an infallible teaching. It never has been proclaimed infallibly," he said. "This attempt to put everything that the Church teaches in this one set of categories, it seems to me, is not a proper Catholic position, not according to the history of our church," he added.

LSN sought comment about Fr. Rennick's remarks from London Bishop Ronald Fabbro who is Chancellor of Assumption University. Mark Adkinson, Director of Communications for the diocese, told LifeSiteNews.com he would not be able to have the bishop comment. Asked if there would be a better time to contact the bishop, Adkinson replied, "No, because I don't view LifeSite as a legitimate news source."...

...Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) Assistant Director Lea Singh noted that the Catechism reads: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every produced abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable." (CCC 2271).

"As an 'unchangeable' teaching, it does indeed seem to be an infallible teaching," said Singh. "Over the years the CCCB has repeatedly spoken out strongly against abortion." She quoted a 1990 CCCB document which stated: "Catholic teaching on abortion is clear and unequivocal. Abortion is a moral evil because it involves the destruction of human life. Direct killing of an unborn child is never justified." ...

The scandal is clear. Fr. Rennick is in desperate need of formation, and hopefully he will get it. It is disturbing to think that people send their college students to Assumption Univ., thinking that THEY will receive a good formation! I guess there is a reason why that university did not make the 'faithful to the Magisterium' list!!

(Our two eldest have attended Our Lady Seat Of Wisdom, which IS on the list, and we can personally recommend it!)

As an aside, Mark Adkinson would serve Bishop Fabbro better if he kept up to date with his communications contacts. (That's his job, right?!) LifeSiteNews has an international reputation amongst faithful Catholic lay persons,priests,Bishops,Cardinals and academics for producing a superior Catholic news service. (Unlike some other Canadian 'catholic' productions often found in the back of churches!)



PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Most gracious Heavenly Father,

We thank you for our for our faithful priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood and example of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and devotion is so vital to the faith of your people.

May our spiritual fathers be guided by the examples of Saints Peter and Paul, all the Apostles and their saintly successors. Give them valiant faith in the face of confusion and conflict, hope in time of trouble and sorrow, and steadfast love for you, for their families, and for all your people throughout the world. May the light of your Truth shine through their lives and their good works.

Assist all spiritual fathers, that through your Grace they may steadily grow in holiness and in knowledge and understanding of your Truth. May they generously impart this knowledge to those who rely on them.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(from Women For Faith and Family)

PC Stooges *UPDATE*

*UPDATE from Edward Feser

Another example of a PC cave-in.

NRO:

Wiley-Blackwell, a major academic press, was set to release its four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization this month. According to the encyclopedia’s editor, George Thomas Kurian, the set had been copy-edited, fact-checked, proofread, publisher-approved, printed, bound, and formally launched (to high praise) at the recent American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature conference. But protests from a small group of scholars associated with the project have led the press to postpone publication, recall all copies already distributed, and destroy the existing print run. The scholars’ complaint? The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, they have reportedly argued, is “too Christian.” “They also object to historical references to the persecution and massacres of Christians by Muslims,” Kurian says, “but at the same time want references favorable to Islam.”

Political correctness in academic publishing is nothing new, but it would be unusual, to say the least, for ideological pressure to lead a publisher to reverse itself so late in the process, especially given the significant financial losses involved in pulping a print run of a gigantic four-volume encyclopedia. As Kurian puts it, “This is probably the first instance of mass book-burning in the 21st century.”...

(h/t blackkettle)

Stephanie Gray Responds - Pro-Life 'Branding'

Stephanie Gray responds to Barbara Kay's article criticizing the Genocide Awareness Project and suggesting that prolife 'branding' should focus on women rather than babies...

NP:

...In her Feb. 4. column, "Women deserve better than abortion," Barbara Kay offers flawed suggestions to the pro-life movement. She calls the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), which compares abortion to the Holocaust, the "worst" use of the movement's time and resources.

Since the pro-life movement's goals are to change minds and save lives, the documented cases of GAP accomplishing just that (see unmaskingchoice.caand abortionNO.org)make it one of the best activities for pro-lifers to get involved with. Ms. Kay says GAP "brands" pro-lifers as "people ... who do not think clearly." GAP volunteers are trained, intelligent, articulate people who defend the pro-life view scientifically and philosophically, and who engage in Socratic dialogue. Furthermore, its creators have studied historical genocides as well as researched and modelled successful social reform movements.

It's worth considering that Martin Luther King Jr.'s protests were also wrongly "branded" as not only "unwise and untimely" but "extreme." So much for branding being a concern -- today, streets are named after him.

As suffragette (and pro-lifer) Susan B. Anthony once said, "Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates and bear the consequences."

Indeed, hostility is directed toward pro-lifers who say abortion is comparable to the Holocaust. If the unborn aren't human, the comparison is flawed. But if the unborn are human, it is accurate....

....Brooklyn, N. Y.-based Rabbi Yehuda Levin echoes this sentiment. He argues, "Each form of genocide, whether Holocaust, lynching, abortion, etc., differs from all the others in the motives and methods of its perpetrators. But each form of genocide is identical to all the others in that it involves the systematic slaughter, as state-sanctioned 'choice,' of innocent, defenceless victims -- while denying their 'personhood.'"....

....If abortion advocates object more when the subject is fetuses and less when it's women, that's a good indicator pro-lifers should stick to their message. Furthermore, abortion is not wrong because it hurts women. Abortion is wrong because it intentionally kills an innocent human being. That's why it hurts women psychologically and physically. Testimonies and personal appeal are powerful -- and important -- but they shouldn't replace the foundational message about what abortion does to the unborn....

Stephanie Gray is co-founder (with Jojo Ruba) of the Canadian Center for Bio-ethical Reform.


Why should the prolife movement be taking advise from Barbara Kay when she states..."I am not opposed in principle to legal abortion."
She 's hardly going to be helpful with 'strategy'!

Free Speech On Campus

Here are some great posts on the 'free speech on campus' battle going on in Nova Scotia:


Steynian

...The fascistic tactics of such militant Progs are beyond irony– they view themselves as lonely crusaders for truth, and that the ends justify all means, even if said means are prejudicial, anti-democratic, hateful, and suppressive or real debate and discussion on the issues they supposedly feel so strongly about. It’s political violence, of a sort, and injures civil society, facts and reflection, and is an absolute assumption of rightness and righteousness on the protesters. This is a popular tactic of Jihadists, brownshirts, black shirts, Bolshevik students, ranting 60’s student bullies– not of those who want the free exchange of ideas in pursuit of truth.…

Comment Gold!

...our awesomer-than-usual Infidel Prof sends along a screed he flung off to the local Chronicle Herald. Proborts, anti-speechists, and academic drones beware: the truth is offensive.

To the editor:

The Herald is right that the protesters who disrupted Jose Ruba’s presentation at Saint Mary’s University last Thursday (”Protesters denied pro-lifer’s right to free speech,” 10 February 2009) have no regard for freedom of expression and were acting as vigilantes. But the Herald fails to press the same points against the university.

This is the first paragraph of the university’s press release regarding the incident: “The University remains committed to academic freedom, diversity of opinion, and supports open debate in a forum that does not put the personal safety and rights of our community at risk. There is a balance that must be maintained among all of these.”

This paragraph implies that it is possible in a open debate to put at risk the rights of our community, and this risk has to be balanced against other things. The university and the protesters are, then, as one in their disdain for freedom of expression. One of the organizers of the protest has said that to compare abortion to the Holocaust, which indeed is what Mr Ruba did, is to violate people’s human rights. Now if it is possible in an open debate to put at risk people’s human rights, comparing abortion to the Holocaust seems a good candidate for violating human rights. The university might well agree with the protesters about both principle and case....

NS Scott

...Today’s issue of The Journal, student newspaper of Saint Mary’s University, carries a front-page story on last week’s disruption of a pro-life presentation by a bunch of Brown Shirts.

A high-ranking official says that the university forced the presentation to be moved off campus because of concerns that the young fascists would become violent if the event were not stopped....

ConcernedForLife

...Among the many comments on this that I have read, one comment keeps popping up. If Mr. Ruba compares abortion to the holocaust, it is assumed that he is comparing women who have abortions to Nazis. I fail to see that that follows; only people who did not hear his talk make that conclusion. The comparison of abortion to the Holocaust is made on the basis of several points...

BigBlueWave

...Pro-lifers raise a number of important philosophical questions and dismissing them as irrelevant is not an intellectually satisfactory position for most people. The human mind, like the rest of nature, abhors a vacuum. When questions are raised, and answers sought, the need for authenticity and logical consistency pushes the mind to find answers, even if they are deemed "irrelevant" by some. That is the beauty of the human intellect.

If they do not answer these questions, they will lose ground. By raising questions, pro-lifers will create that vacuum and pro-lifers will fill it.

We only need to persistently present the facts in a calm and peaceful manner. I am not saying this is the magic bullet. I don't believe in magic bullets for such complex questions.

I am saying it can only further our cause...

(If you have found other relevant articles you'd like to share, pleas add them in the comments, or e-mail me.)

.

Thanks Again Mr. Charest

Well, Quebeckers like to keep things interesting, non?

NP:

A new religion course taught in schools across Quebec was intended to improve inter-cultural understanding, but so far it is generating deep division as hundreds of parents pull their children out of class....

....Stéphanie Tremblay, a spokeswoman for Quebec's Education Department, said school boards across the province have received and rejected more than 1,400 requests from public-school parents seeking to have their children exempted from taking the course. The dissenters represent a small minority of the one million children enrolled in public schools.....

"The course was designed with an eye to respecting the freedom of conscience and religion of all students," she said. "It is not a religious instruction course. It is religious culture. We introduce young people to religious culture like we introduce them to musical culture. The goal is to better know and understand others."....

Meanwhile...

The new course is also mandatory in private schools, and Montreal's Loyola High School has initiated its own court challenge. Parents of more than 600 of the Jesuit school's students asked to have their children exempted from the course, and all were refused by the province.

Paul Donovan, the school's principal, said much of the curriculum is already taught at Loyola, but not in the "relativistic" way favoured by the Education Department.

He said the course does not ask children to distinguish between right and wrong. "What it essentially says is that religion is just, ‘You like tomato soup and I like pea soup, so don't be all offended because someone likes tomato soup. It's really just a matter of preference,' " he said. "Religion could be Wiccan or Raelian or any of the new movements or atheism or agnosticism."

So far Loyola has refused to teach the Ethics and Religious Culture class. "I can't tell my teachers to teach that course in conscience. I can't," Mr. Donovan said.

I don't think Ms. Stephanie really understands the concepts of 'parental perogative' and 'freedom of religion' - or for that matter, 'culture'!

How many more self immolating 'reforms' will Quebec endure under the rule of Monsieur Charest?

(see also)

"Campus Abuse of Personal Freedoms"

(island school)

We’re talking about the right to free-speech and freedom of religion. Basic rights.

Washington Times has an article reminding us how much today’s universities are controlled by the ‘PC’ agenda :

…Young America’s Foundation once again compiled the “best of the worst” academic abuses for 2008. These stories are usually not reported in the “drive-by” media, no doubt to shield school officials from explaining their radical curricula. The Yuba incident tops the list, although it had plenty of competition, as you’ll see.

Transgendered Activists In, Pro-life Speakers Out:

Administrators at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic institution in Minnesota, inexplicably censored the appearance of prominent pro-life speaker Star Parker.

In April, Ms. Parker, the best-selling author of numerous books, was slated to speak on campus about the devastating impact abortion has on minority communities. Yet St. Thomas bureaucrats, under the helm of the Vice President of Student Affairs Jane Canney, forbade the lecture, claiming they felt “uncomfortable” and “disturbed” by previous conservative speakers at the University.

Speakers that passed Ms. Canney’s litmus test in 2008? Al Franken, the liberal U.S. Senate candidate in Minnesota, and Debra Davis, a transgendered activist who believes that God is a black lesbian….

When helping our young homeschoolers choose a university, we should keep in mind whether the school of choice will maintain the same standards of freedom and integrity we’ve been struggling to personally instill in our children. There still are some private colleges that understand what the ‘liberal’ in ‘liberal education’ means, but not that many!

(see also)


And being named 'in honour' of a saint, apparantly means NOTHING!

Brave Souls at UofC *UPDATE*

After being warned that the University may arrest them for not making their display invisible, prolife- U of Calgary students persist.






The result.*UPDATE*
Univ.ofCalgary Reconsiders
U of C Profs Speak Out

(see "Students Have Guts; "Double Standard")

How To Raise An Idiot

...send him to university unprepared to do daily battle with 'educated people' for control of his speech and thought!

One of Canada's 'top' universities and home of one of their 'best' medical schools- Queen's University, exemplifies the stifling atmosphere on campuses across the country:(Ben-Ami)

....the “intergroup dialogue program” is part of a broader initiative by the university to “foster diversity and encourage students to think about their beliefs”. What could be more benign?

To accomplish these objectives, however, the school will be deploying “student facilitators” whose job it will be, in part, to monitor private conversations on campus and to jump in when they hear someone using terms that could be interpreted as homophobic, sexist, or otherwise bigoted. These facilitators will also be responsible for initiating “spontaneous” conversations about issues and organizing discussion groups and other activities for the same purpose.

So far, critics have focused their attention almost exclusively on the possibility that the reactive aspect of the program – intervening in private conversations – might impinge upon the freedom of speech or freedom of expression of students, a not unreasonable fear. I’m more worried about the proactive aspects of the project – the so-called “spontaneous” conversations and discussion groups on issues that the program envisions.

Clearly something of this nature must have a set of standards to determine whether or not a conversation is offensive enough to warrant an “intervention” by facilitators. What are those standards, and how will they be applied to the “spontaneous” conversations and discussion groups the facilitators are also mandated to initiate, particularly if these conversations and discussions deal with controversial subject matter? The war in Iraq, abortion, the gay agenda, radical feminism – it’s not hard to imagine a list of topics where feelings run high and where dissent is rarely tolerated these days, let alone respected, especially on university campuses. Will facilitators create an environment where dissent is welcome, or will they use their quasi-authoritative positions to try and convince the dissenters of their sins and persuade them to return to the warm and friendly embrace of neo-orthodox opinion? I for one am not optimistic.

The explanation offered by representatives of Queen’s University that this program encourages diversity and independent thinking simply makes no sense. By challenging and effectively suppressing non-conformist behaviour and opinion, it seeks to induce uniformity of thought and expression, otherwise there would be no purpose in intervening in private conversations in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of examples of stupid and offensive ideas out there, and I’m all for confronting those who express those ideas, but any confrontation ought to be spontaneous and it ought to be limited to truly private individuals rather than agents of the state posing as private individuals...

Not Really A 'Win'

German Family Court rejected the State's evaluation of the 'fitness' of a German couple to parent their own children. The court did not, however, allow them to continue homeschooling - something they had been doing successfully, though illegally, for fifteen years.
LifeSite News:

....The Gorber children had been removed from the family home in January by officials of the Jugendamt, the German Youth Welfare Authority, because the family was homeschooling, a crime that has remained on the books in Germany since the Nazi period.

The HSLDA notes, “Homeschooling parents in Germany face these types of repercussions on a regular basis.” The Gorbers have homeschooled all of their children over the past 15 years. In January, youth welfare officers arrived at the Gorbers’ home in cars and vans to take all the minor children without any notice or hearing. The children were placed in state orphanages until August, when a court allowed a home visit.....

....German law requires all children to be placed in state approved schools, a requirement that has resulted in numerous cases of homeschooling children being removed by the state from parental care. In the majority of cases, such families are devout Christians who want a less heavily secularised education for their children, one that does not include the explicit and anti-family state-approved “sex-education.”

In a landmark legal case, started in 2003 at the European Court of Human Rights, a homeschooling parent couple argued on behalf of their children that Germany's compulsory school attendance endangered their children’s religious upbringing. They said specifically that the state-approved sex education clashed with their children’s right, according to the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, that “the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.”

Three years later, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the German ban on homeschooling, stating “parents may not refuse ...[compulsory schooling] on the basis of their convictions.”

Ah yes, the good old European Union. Can't wait 'til Cayman gets sucked into their 'vortex of evil' through the London mandated 'Bill of Rights'. Good Times Ahead!!

Bishop Of Lancaster Speaks Out

Telegraph UK:

The Rt Rev Patrick O'Donoghue, the Bishop of Lancaster, has claimed that graduates are spreading scepticism and sowing dissent. Instead of following the Church's teaching they are "hedonistic", "selfish" and "egocentric", he said.

In particular, the bishop complained that influential Catholics in politics and the media were undermining the Church.

While not naming names, he suggested that such people had been compromised by their education, which he said had a "dark side, due to original sin".

Prominent Catholics in public life include Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, and Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister.

Bishop O'Donoghue, who has recently published a report on how to renew Catholicism in Britain, argued that mass education has led to "sickness in the Church and wider society".

"What we have witnessed in Western societies since the end of the Second World War is the development of mass education on a scale unprecedented in human history - resulting in economic growth, scientific and technological advances, and the cultural and social enrichment of billions of people's lives," he said.

"However, every human endeavor has a dark side, due to original sin and concupiscence. In the case of education, we can see its distortion through the widespread dissemination of radical scepticism, positivism, utilitarianism and relativism.

"Taken together, these intellectual trends have resulted in a fragmented society that marginalizes God, with many people mistakenly thinking they can live happy and productive lives without him.

"It shouldn't surprise us that the shadows cast by the distortion of education, and corresponding societal changes, have also touched members of the Church. As Pope Benedict XVI puts it, even in the Church we find hedonism, selfishness and egocentric behavior."

The bishop said that Catholic graduates had rejected the reforms made in the second council of the Vatican, which introduced fundamental changes in issues such as liturgy and doctrine.

"The Second Vatican Council tends to be misinterpreted most by Catholics who have had a university education -- that is, by those most exposed to the intellectual and moral spirit of the age," he said. "These well-educated Catholics have gone on to occupy influential positions in education, the media, politics, and even the Church, where they have been able to spread their so-called loyal dissent, causing confusion and discord in the whole church."

Mr Thompson, who went to Oxford University, has this month been embroiled in a row over broadcasting standards in the wake of the scandal over offensive telephone messages left by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. Under his command the BBC broadcast Jerry Springer The Opera, considered blasphemous by many Christians, and was forced to pull a cartoon called Popetown set in a fictional Vatican over concerns it would cause offence.

Mr Blair, also Oxford-educated, became a Catholic last year but has received Mass for years. As Prime Minister he oversaw the introduction of laws on gay rights and abortion which the Catholic church opposed.

The bishop said that influential Catholics had set a bad example and corrupted the faith of those who had not gone to university.

"This failure of leadership has exacerbated the even-greater problem of the mass departure from the Church of the working-class and poor," he said. "For example, the relentless diatribe in the popular media against Christianity has undermined the confidence of the ordinary faithful in the Church."

Although the influx of immigrants from Catholic countries in Eastern Europe has buoyed Mass attendance in recent years, there has been a significant decline in the number of indigenous, working-class Catholics.

Attendance at Mass in 1991 was recorded as 1.3 million, representing a drop of 40 per cent since 1963, but it fell further to 960,000 in 2004. The number of priests in England and Wales has slumped by nearly a quarter in 20 years, from 4,545 in 1985 to 3,643 in 2005.

Bishop O'Donoghue has produced a report, Fit for Mission? Church, examining the current problems facing the Church and designed "to enable Catholic men, women and children to resist the pressures to compromise, even abandon, the truths of the Catholic faith".

He says that he supports Catholics receiving a university education, but urges they should be "better-equipped to challenge the erroneous thinking of their contemporaries".

Nicholas Lash, the former Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University, called the bishop's comments "extremely grave".

Writing in this week's Tablet - a respected Catholic journal - Prof Lash says: "If he had named a particular university or universities, or particular individuals, he might well have had a series of libel actions on his hands.

"Quite what constructive purpose could possibly be served by such irresponsible and wholesale scapegoating of the educated, I have simply no idea."

Well, I think they went a bit far calling the "Tablet" a respected 'Catholic' journal. Its not particularly respected or Catholic, only somewhat respected by nominal Catholics.

Nominal Catholics . That's the problem. And the problem does come from their mis-education and obtuse refusal to accept Truth and Authority. I don't think it can be all laid at the feet of higher education. Surely the Catholic schools,seminaries, priests and Bishops played a role ? I think this could maybe be categorized as 'reaping what you sow'... (The Bishop of Lancaster is a fresh breeze of Orthodoxy !)

In an interview as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope answered the declining numbers of faithful (FAITHFUL) by accepting that the Church may have some suffering ahead, and speculating that the remnant would be FAITHFUL. He wasn't worried about smaller numbers- he had hopes that the youth would be FAITHFUL, joyful Catholics. (He also defined FAITHFUL.)

I think something that the American elections has accomplished for the Catholic Church, is that it has affected a sort of separating of the 'wheat' from the 'chaff'. Here's praying that I end up in the right pile!

Why Homeschool? ( reason 3407)

Why Indeed?

This young group of homeschooled filmmakers has produced something that is impressive...Advent Film Grouppresents "Come What May".

MA Parents Warn Florida - Its About POWER

Lifesite News:

... Massachusetts’s parents Robb and Robin Wirthlin warned Floridians about the detrimental effects of same sex marriage on public education and religious liberty at the Florida Press Center in Tallahassee yesterday.

Florida is one of three states in the upcoming election that are considering marriage amendments that would protect true marriage. The ballot title for the Florida initiative, titled Amendment 2, says, “In as much as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

The Wirthlins related how their seven year old son, Joey, came home from second grade public school one day to tell them his teacher had read the class a book about a prince who married another prince and the two men went on to become, King and King. The book includes a scene of the two male princes kissing each other and the prince rejecting other female princesses who were either too short, had long arms and one who had dark colored skin.

“We were absolutely shocked. We felt extremely violated. Our son was just a little boy and not at the age we were planning on discussing sexual topics with him,” Robin Wirthlin said. “Our son needs to learn to read and write and do math. Second grade is no place to be promoting homosexuality - a highly charged social issue. And this book was hardly value neutral. It was completely one-sided. It was loaded with values that were contrary to our own and amounted to an assault on our family, our values and our marriage. It was an attack on the conscience of our child.”

When the Wirthlins contacted school officials to complain about homosexual "marriage" being forced on young children in the Massachusetts public school, they were told they had no right to control the curriculum, no right to be notified when gay marriage might be taught in school, and no right to pull their child from class...

Meanwhile in California...

..Parents of students attending an elementary school in Hayward, California, are in a frenzy after learning the school allegedly made no effort to inform them their children were to participate in today's homosexual "Coming Out Day" school event, reports the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a legal firm specializing in the defense of religious freedoms and parental rights.

Parents of children at Faith Ringgold School of Art and Science were shocked to see a poster announcing the homosexual event, as they had not received any previous notification. In fact, according PJI, the school specifically decided not to inform parents ahead of time...

NOVEMBER 4 IS YOUR CHANCE FOLKS! POSSIBLY YOUR LAST!!!

Let's Try This Again...

Guelph University Student Union is the living evidence that student governments are a joke. They not only don't know what gov't is, they don't know why they are at university!(That would be pursuit of TRUTH and development of character while BROADENING their knowledge of the world .)

Every year, fresh faces must learn the hard way what it means to live in a democracy. What freedom means. What responsibility means. What being an adult is all about.

Unfortunately for student unions across Canada, developmentally retarded 'adults' who spend their next 20 years after their mediocre B.A. as paid 'researchers' for student unions, often also don't know these things. They have never graduated from the NDP youth corps into real life.

Truth, reason, fairness, reality - all foreign concepts to these individuals. Whenever the radical feminist lobby calls them up, they run to serve, drooling with conspiratorial anticipation of their rewards in liberal heaven. Never mind that 'liberal heaven' is an oxymoron. They don't know that either.

As a former student politician,(ancient history!) present at the formation of the now infamous CFS, I can attest to the adrenaline affect of being up against 'the man'. We actually spent most of our time on funding, not persecuting other students ( I declined to participate in the 'women's caucus', not being lesbian enough to really fit in.)

I know I sound harsh. I remember my frustration at the time, with outside groups trying to push their politics on us- the Marxist/Leninists who 'joined' in our protests at gov't house, the hate-filled feminasties - and frustration with the kids who couldn't care less about funding so didn't want to pay student fees. Frustration with gov't who ocassionally patted us on the head but mostly ignored us. I know.

Student politics is at best a learning experience for those involved. At Guelph, and other universities across Canada,its the worst. Its a TOOL for others' agendas, unrepresentative of the students themselves, and apparantly facist. (Unions used to leave 'facist' to the administration!) At least when you're dealing with funding, you know it will help all students. When you label some students as 'unfit' members of the community by 'outlawing' their groups and maligning their intent, you are being intolerant in the most facist of ways. You are denying them the right to use their own reason to determine their own beliefs. You are demanding conformity to YOUR beliefs.

In twenty years, half of those involved- perhaps more, will have entirely different perspectives on life, and LIFE. Student governments are a joke. A bad one.

Prolife students need to disassociate themselves from unions like that at the University of Guelph. Don't pay the fees. And don't pay the fees for the 'women's center either!

If you need help, call me. Really.

The Repressive Regime Of Quebec

Lifesite News :

The new mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture program that was introduced this fall in Quebec schools has parents fuming, with many complaining that the program effectively removes their right to choose the kind of religious education their children receive. To show their displeasure a group of Quebec parents has organized a protest march for tomorrow, Saturday, October 18.

Three years ago, the clause in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms that guaranteed freedom of religious instruction and parental rights (parents have "the right to require that, in the public educational establishments, their children receive a religious or moral instruction in conformity with their convictions") was changed without any public consultation. The amended clause read that parents have the "right to give their children a religious and moral education in keeping with their convictions and with proper regard for their children's rights and interests."

Removal of the phrase "in the public educational establishments" meant that parents no longer had any say in what type of religious instruction is given in the schools.

The new compulsory religion course, from which children cannot be exempted, replaces three options that had been available to Quebec students - a generic course in moral education or two other courses that were either Catholic or Protestant in nature.

The Canadian Press reports that lawyer Jean-Yves Cote, representing a couple in Drummondville that has started legal action against the their local school board and the government, says the number of angry parents is likely in the thousands and is growing.

The suit filed by Cote seeks the right for parents to exempt their children from the course.

A request for exemption from the Ethics and Religious Culture program by Loyola High School, a private Catholic boys' school in Montreal, on the grounds that the course conflicted with the school's Catholic character, was refused by Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, which prompted the school administration also to take the issue to court...

**A Note To Those Who Thought Charest Was A Conservative - He Isn't!!**

Not Only In B.C.

Calgary Herald tells a tale of repression of parental rights and freedoms,and social engineering:

"...The couple, who are known homosexual activists, went to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to allege systemic discrimination against homosexuals by the B.C. Ministry of Education. A few years later, they filed another complaint. At first, the Ministry of Education denied the allegations but, as time dragged on, it decided to capitulate. The Ministry gave in -- without any defence or discussion, or even an impartial consideration of the allegations. In fact, it rolled over and played dead so fast it makes the Second World War Italian army look like hardcore U.S. Marines.

In giving up, the B.C. government made a legal agreement that gave the complainants unprecedented control and influence over the province's curriculum in exchange for dropping the human rights charges.

The complainants have since developed resources on alternative sexuality that teachers can use to integrate the topic into any subject from grades K to 12, as well as a Grade 12 course that covers issues like sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Education Ministry now proudly proclaims that it is a world leader in diversity training, but not all parents and teachers are pleased. There's controversy over the content and whether it should be an elective or a required course, and how appropriate the resources will be for young children and whether the whole scheme usurps the parent's role as the primary educator of their children. Just this week, it was announced that these events had spurred an initiative to "Take Back our Schools" by parents and organizations who believe the government has overstepped its limits..."
(h/t black kettle)
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British Columbia is not alone in its penchant for taking rights away from parents and giving them to others. Last year the NS Dept. of Ed. decided to fire a schoolboard that was having difficulty accepting the dept's idea of a curriculum. Oh well. Why pretend to be democratic in Canada? Somehow the people with the MOST bizarre idea of 'public good' always think only the 'crazies' disagree, and everyone knows 'crazies' have no civil rights - like freedom.

Catholic Liberal Arts

Friends With Christ :

"..There is a huge tradition of Liberal Arts in a Catholic context going back to the first Christian century and it is something which has continued in many European countries to this day, and it is being rediscovered now in the States and in Australia. The Liberal Arts comprise the a study of Literature, History, Theology, Philosophy and Science.

There is a profound Catholic focus is the studies which seek a synthesis through, and an emphasis on, the interconnectedness of ideas and perspectives from the different subjects, and by allowing one subject to be built upon another. Subjects are approached from both local and global perspectives and the complementarity of Faith and Reason is drawn upon throughout.

A Catholic Liberal Arts Degree can lead into Education, Writing, Government, Adminstration, Publishing, Communications, Media, Cultural and Faith-based work, Academia, Social Services, Tourism. It gives an education for life, and not simply for an occupation. It seeks to foster good and critical thinkers and to give a deep understanding of culture..."
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The Catholic liberal arts college two (so far) of our sons attended in Canada was Our Lady Seat of Wisdom in Barry's Bay Ontario. They are fairly new, begun by young Catholics on a mission to provide authentic Catholic education in an affordable setting. It's also a very picturesque setting. They continue to grow and adjust to their increasing numbers, and the Westin family is grateful for the sacrifices that the founders and early students have made for our benefit.

(Check out 'The Alexandrian', a Catholic culture magazine put out by a recent graduate of OLSWA, Catherine Nolan.)

NEA- The Making of a Zombie Nation

The NEA in the US, the largest teachers' union, has adopted resolutions that put them squarely in the 'repress the minds to control the population' camp. They seem to think they have a (not God-given, surely) mission to convert all publicly educated 'families' into far-left ideologues. In order to accomplish this, they have adopted resolutions to repress parental (surely God-given) rights to educate their children according to conscience. They will now lobby every level of gov't to obtain their Orwellian dream - a submissive country of propagandized subjects.

This should fit in well with Obama's perception of a 'New America'.

Good times ahead!

Education : Who's Right?

"The Church does not deny the right of the State to decree compulsory education so long as such decrees do not abrogate other and more fundamental rights. It should be remembered , however, that compulsion on the part of the State is not the exercise of a primary and predominant right (for this belongs to the parents and to the Church), but must be justified by considerations of the public good."(Angelus Press)

Like sheep to be sheared, we have given over our fundamental rights and responsibilities to a State that perceives the teaching of 'homosexual lifestyle' to be a matter of the 'public good'.That considers our Christian heritage to be anathema. They have abused their mandate. They will continue to do so, unobstructed, until every man's child is a true and faithful child of the State - obedient and willing in all their endeavors, and free from the influence and protection of a non-existent family.

In the last ten years, how many Catholic schools have been closed? How many have become 'Catholic Aura' schools?


Catholics can save the world,literally, by taking up their parental responsibilities, given to them by God, and taking charge of the adequate Catholic education of their children.

We need to stop being so complacent and lazy!

More Good Works

Ryan Anderson atFirst Things posts on "The War on Abstinence":

"...And yet few people seem aware of the coordinated effort to achieve all this that the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have undertaken (working in conjunction with such local groups as Advocates for Youth and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States). In this year’s Planned Parenthood annual report, the group boasts success in getting governors to reject federal funding for abstinence: “The tide is shifting in America, and last year 10 governors refused” federal funding. On their website, you’ll find hyperlinks where you can “help Planned Parenthood bring vital information about birth control and responsible decision making to the classroom” and “tell your elected representatives it’s time to end dangerous abstinence-only programs and to stand up for real sex education!”

The motivations for the campaign are probably legion. Planned Parenthood and their allies stand to make millions of dollars: The federal funding that goes to abstinence education is funding that they would like to be receiving. But the financial interests are secondary. The war on abstinence is the latest battleground in the culture wars. Arguing that it is “one of the religious right’s greatest challenges to the nation’s sexual health,” Planned Parenthood insists that abstinence is “only one tactic in a broader, more long-term strategy” in the conservative arsenal. And Planned Parenthood sees itself as the great opponent to this supposed assault on sexual freedom..."(h/t dawn eden)


Yep. That sounds like they have my kids' best interests at heart.