EFC associate legal counsel Faye Sonier on the Catholic trustees

From the Activate blog:

The EFC sent a letter to the TCDSB trustees last week, on the eve of a crucial meeting in which the trustees would vote on several proposed amendments to the equity policy designed to ensure compliance with Catholic doctrine. In the letter, trustees were encouraged to vote in a way which would respect the religious freedom, beliefs and the denominational rights of the Catholic school board.

Unfortunately, all but one proposed amendment was rejected. Shockingly, those rejected included the following, rather straight-forward statements:

• That clubs (like Gay-Straight Alliances) would only be approved if they are not inconsistent with the Catholic Church’s moral and doctrinal teachings.

• That teachers should promote personal conduct or a lifestyle that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The amendment that did pass stated that in the case of a conflict between Catholic denominational rights and the province’s education policies, that “the protection of the denominational aspect takes precedence.” However, board staff have stated that any conflicts between the two would need to be determined by the courts. Other amendments that did pass were considered to be “watered-down” versions of what many Catholic parents hoped to see pass.

This situation is simply one of many cases across the country where the government or special interest groups, in aggressive pursuit of a troubling alteration to the concept of ‘diversity’, attempt to crush any expression of belief that is inconsistent with their own. Beliefs considered inadequate by the purveyors of the new diversity, which often include certain Christian beliefs, are often ridiculed, caricatured, condemned and the holders of those beliefs told to take their beliefs to their churches or behind the closed doors of their homes – away from public view. Some parents have been told that it would be un-Canadian to teach their beliefs and values to their children. In which case, state schools should override parental authority and the religious freedom of individuals, families and entire religious communities (churches, synagogues, etc).

A diverse Canada, in the opinion of the marketers of this new diversity, doesn’t include the beliefs or practices of some, particularly Christians and social conservatives. Does it get anymore ‘non-diverse’ than that?