Alberta School Board Goes Against Freedom of Religion

[betsy]

A Christian school in Alberta fights for freedom of religion.  The board wants the school to stop teaching certain passages from the Scriptures.

 

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A small-town Alberta Christian academy is worried its religious freedom is under fire after its board asked the school to stop teaching “offensive” scripture.

Cornerstone Christian Academy (CCA) and the Battle River School Division (BRSD) are at risk of splitting up after a terse email exchange between CCA leadership and the board chair led to the former seeking legal counsel. At a board meeting on Thursday the BRSD committed to a sit-down discussion with the school after board chair Laurie Skori said CCA had been looking to “create controversy” and had “broken our trust” by talking to the media.

CCA chair Deanna Margel stressed the importance of the school’s right to decide what it gets to teach.

“You can’t just pick and choose those scriptures,” she said. “We need every single word there to challenge us, to call us to greater understanding. It’s just so important.”

We’re talking about freedom of expression

“We’re talking about freedom of religion, but we’re (also) talking about freedom of expression,” she said.

 

Skori sent an email earlier this year asking Wargel to remove a bible verse on immorality from the school’s statement of faith. She also asked that they remove the word “quality” from the phrase “CCA offers quality educational programming.”

CCA agreed to remove “quality” and the passage from 1 Corinthians, which states: “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

http://nationalpost.com/news/religion/alberta-christian-school-fights-board-request-to-remove-offensive-scripture/wcm/d8d5b924-9858-4b67-bb03-4c296442bcde

 

 

However, the CCA already capitulated, and edited the Word of God..........if this report is true.

 

You can't pick and choose.  If you agree to remove any word from the Scriptures.....then, what are you fighting for? 

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by betsy

[The_Squid]

12 hours ago, betsy said:

 

You can't pick and choose.  If you agree to remove any word from the Scriptures.....then, what are you fighting for? 

Of course you can...  you pick and choose all the time.  

Do you think slaves should obey their masters?

[Michael Hardner]

When it comes to reasonable accommodation of religion, it is necessary to get down to the details.  I don't agree with the passage quoted being removed, and I think a court challenge would likely permit the school to retain it.

However - overall it is definitely necessary to deprecate excerpts of holy books.  There are plenty of quotes on this site about problematic excerpts from these books, and indeed if you preached them you could be charged under hate laws.  I believe there is an example of someone being forced by an HRC to remove a biblical quote from a publication because it invoked stoning/killing of sinners.

In order to discuss these things, though, one has to attempt to be objective and talk about the general case.  As we have seen, it's a very special minority of public individuals who are able to exhibit those traits convincingly.  Most individuals will simply be part of the mass group that gives a blunt thumbs up/down to the result.  If you can't discuss these issues on the level of rights and freedoms, and descend into xenophobia against or for religion, then you nominate yourself to be part of that mass group IMO.

[betsy]

How can anyone dictate to a statement of faith? 

I wonder if the same board would do the same to the Quran?  Not that I would approve of it, either. 

 

This is about freedom of religion, and expression.  When authorities can chip away at our rights and freedom.........we'll end up losing them.

Edited June 22, 2017 by betsy

[Michael Hardner]

Do you agree that excerpts of the Quran and the bible are not acceptable as public dialogue ?

 

It seems so.  I don't entirely buy the slippery slope argument here, but I agree it's something to watch.

[overthere]

Alberta has an unusual and pretty wide open education system. Schools and school boards have a lot of freedom.  If they get public funding, they have to do a few things: they must follow the AB curriculum for core subjects, they must use certified teachers, they have to follow (legal) school board policies if they are part of a board. Inclusive, ya know?

 

What nobody noted was that this Christian school was voluntarily part of a public school board, one they chose to join to gain all the advantages of scale- and get public funding too. They are  subject to whatever rules that board chooses- as long as they are legal.

 

What they need to do is leave the board, leave the funding and pay for it all themselves.  They will still need to teach the curriuculum and public funding and use real teachers, but after that they can pray the rest of the day.

[Hal 9000]

On 6/22/2017 at 4:34 AM, betsy said:

How can anyone dictate to a statement of faith? 

I wonder if the same board would do the same to the Quran?  Not that I would approve of it, either. 

 

This is about freedom of religion, and expression.  When authorities can chip away at our rights and freedom.........we'll end up losing them.

And this is where it's gonna get interesting.  The school board did this apparently to treat all religions equally, however, there will be a day when the muslims decide that they should be able to pray and include Islam in their schools - then what?

[Michael Hardner]

25 minutes ago, Hal 9000 said:

And this is where it's gonna get interesting.  The school board did this apparently to treat all religions equally, however, there will be a day when the muslims decide that they should be able to pray and include Islam in their schools - then what?

Well, if it's good for the Christian goose then it's good for the Muslim gander.  It doesn't seem like much of a test for our public policy, frankly.

[Hal 9000]

1 hour ago, Michael Hardner said:

Well, if it's good for the Christian goose then it's good for the Muslim gander.  It doesn't seem like much of a test for our public policy, frankly.

Sure, in theory.  But it would be foolish to believe that the school boards will stand up to the muslim community the way they do the Christians.

[Michael Hardner]

12 minutes ago, Hal 9000 said:

Sure, in theory.  But it would be foolish to believe that the school boards will stand up to the muslim community the way they do the Christians.

Yes, I'm sure there would be no political will to reign in Muslim prayers in Alberta, he said with no hint of sarcasm whatsoever.

[betsy]

2 hours ago, Hal 9000 said:

And this is where it's gonna get interesting.  The school board did this apparently to treat all religions equally, however, there will be a day when the muslims decide that they should be able to pray and include Islam in their schools - then what?

 

....or, would the school board do the same to Islamic schools?

 

 

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Philosophy

 

Edmonton Islamic Academy’s (EIA) purpose is the necessity of raising a generation of Canadian Muslims that is conscious of its creator, Almighty God (Allah).  We believe that this message is achieved through intellectual growth, community service and upstanding citizenship that is integral to both Islam and our Canadian mosaic.

 

We believe in

 

• a generation that prides itself in its Islamic heritage and religious teachings and holds to the message of Islam, whose tenets are based on the Quran – the Holy book of Muslims – as well as the Sunnah (Teaching) of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

 

• http://www.islamicacademy.ca/site/vision--mission

 

Islam has their own doctrine for immorality, too.

Edited June 25, 2017 by betsy

[dre]

21 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Well, if it's good for the Christian goose then it's good for the Muslim gander.  It doesn't seem like much of a test for our public policy, frankly.

We just need separation of church and state.

If this school is completely privately funded and receives no tax exemptions or government money, and does not hand out government backed certifications, then they should be able to teach whatever cultist nonsense they choose. 

[Michael Hardner]

51 minutes ago, dre said:

 

If this school is completely privately funded and receives no tax exemptions or government money, and does not hand out government backed certifications, then they should be able to teach whatever cultist nonsense they choose. 

No - there's still a narrow amount of holy book literature that can't be said in public because it's effectively hate speech.  Aside from that, I agree with you.