Catholic church urges pupils to sign anti-gay marriage petition
Quote:
The Roman Catholic church has written to every state-funded Catholic secondary school in England and Wales asking them to encourage pupils to sign a petition against gay marriage.
Students at one south London school were shown a presentation on religious opposition to government plans to let gay couples marry in civil ceremonies. Church leaders believe the proposal would reduce the significance of marriage.
The Catholic Education Service, which acts for Catholic bishops in England and Wales, contacted 385 secondary schools to highlight a letter read in parish churches last month, in which two archbishops told worshippers that Catholics have a "duty to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations".
The CES also asked schools to draw pupils' attention to the petition being organised by the Coalition for Marriage, a Christian campaign which has attracted more than 466,000 signatures to date.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "This is a clear breach of the authority and privilege that the Catholic Education Service has been given in schools.
"Surely it is no part of its remit to promote a specific political campaign from this purely sectarian viewpoint. It is disgraceful that children are being encouraged into bigotry when they are attending a state school paid for by taxpayers."
A pupil at St Philomena's Catholic high school for girls in Carshalton, in the south London borough of Sutton, told the website PinkNews.co.uk that children aged 11 to 18 had been encouraged to sign the anti-equality pledge by their headteacher.
She said: "In our assembly for the whole sixth form you could feel people bristling as she explained parts of the letter and encouraged us to sign the petition. It was just a really outdated, misjudged and heavily biased presentation."
She said some pupils had responded by buying Gay Pride badges to pin to their uniforms. "There are several people in my year who aren't heterosexual – myself included – and I for one was appalled and actually disgusted by what they were encouraging," she said. "After all, that's discrimination they were urging impressionable people to engage in, which is unacceptable."
The British Humanist Association said the CES's actions were likely to be in breach of sections 406 and 407 of the 1996 Education Act, which ban the political indoctrination of schoolchildren and require political views to be presented in a balanced way. The Act was used in a failed attempt to prevent schools showing Al Gore's climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
The BHA's faith schools campaigner, Richy Thompson, said: "This action by the Catholic Education Service is absolutely outrageous." Thompson said the church has undermined "one of their core arguments against gay marriage, which is supposedly to protect children from exposure to such matters".
A CES spokeswoman said: "We said that schools might like to consider using this [letter] in assemblies or in class teaching. We said people might want to consider asking pupils and parents if they might want to sign the petition. It's really important that no school discriminates against any member of the school community.
"Schools with a religious character are allowed to teach sex and relationships – and conduct assemblies – in accordance with the religious views of the school. The Catholic view of marriage is not a political view; it's a religious view."
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
Children aged11-17 can't vote. Ergo, they should not be allowed to sign petitions. If they're not old enough to comprehend the political system in this country, they're not old enough to sign petitions surrounding such political (in this case called religious) agenda.
The Catholic view of marriage is not a political view; it's a religious view.
I am not clear about the laws but I do appreciate that part of the role of the Church is to speak up about such issues. Catholics believe marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman. The church is not there to be popular, or change its teachings to suit the secular world.
I think that the comment: the church has undermined "one of their core arguments against gay marriage, which is supposedly to protect children from exposure to such matters" makes no sense. Media- and the fact that pupils at the school are identifying themselves as homosexual means that these issues are already impacting them- I always think that discussion is important, and it is just as bigotted to say we don't want to hear the church's views because we don't like it.
I do think that this should open dialogue between children and parents, and the school. But the Church itself has a social responsibility to take a stance and urge others to do so as well. Its role is not just as an educator but also as a guide for the moral fabric of society.
~Happy tomatoes together we will be~
You say toe- may- toe, I say toe- mah- toe:
Let's call the whole thing- red
“It’s time to lead the third revolution, which is not to say we want to be at the top of the world, but to say we want to change the world. Because the way the world has been designed by men is not working. It’s not working for women, it’s not working for men,
it’s not working for polar bears.” Arianna Huffington 2014
This. Although I am presuming this is a state-run school, and this is why I believe all state schools should be non-denominational and secular. Teach religions, sure, but don't have religion as a fundamental aspect in proceedings.
Civil marriage is a legal contract between two people. I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing gay couples the same civil rights as straight couples because as far as the state is concerned it's a way of protecting property and making it easier to pass on to the person of your choice. I don't think it's a challenge to the concept of marriage. After all, we survived the state's changing understanding of marriage when divorce was legalised.
Civil marriage is a legal contract between two people. I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing gay couples the same civil rights as straight couples because as far as the state is concerned it's a way of protecting property and making it easier to pass on to the person of your choice. I don't think it's a challenge to the concept of marriage. After all, we survived the state's changing understanding of marriage when divorce was legalised.
^this. Granted that Catholics don't generally approve of divorce either, but they're not sending petitions into schools to ban divorce. That's the difference.
^this. Granted that Catholics don't generally approve of divorce either, but they're not sending petitions into schools to ban divorce. That's the difference.
They probably did at the time though...
I don't mind gay marriage, but I do not want religious establishments/persons to be forced into marrying anyone. They can already decline people because they don't go to the church, for example.
I don't mind gay marriage, but I do not want religious establishments/persons to be forced into marrying anyone. They can already decline people because they don't go to the church, for example.
Agreed.x
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
^this. Granted that Catholics don't generally approve of divorce either, but they're not sending petitions into schools to ban divorce. That's the difference.
absolutely. and i don't think it's a very good idea getting irate about a political matter, and schools especially may not be the best places to target even if you are going to get involved.
I am more than you know, streetlights and open roads, I am more than a face stuck living in one place. So call me California, call me what you will, because I am bigger than this place, and so far from alone. I don't believe in your hate, because these scars are gunna fade, so pour me out like water and soak me up like rain. Like a runaway, I spend these nights counting stars, like a runaway. And maybe I could call this home tonight?
"She said some pupils had responded by buying Gay Pride badges to pin to their uniforms. "There are several people in my year who aren't heterosexual – myself included – and I for one was appalled and actually disgusted by what they were encouraging," she said. "After all, that's discrimination they were urging impressionable people to engage in, which is unacceptable."
Best quote in there.
(\__/)
(O.o )
(> < ) This Is Bunny. Copy Bunny into your signature to help him on his way to world domination.
I feel that the Catholic Church is well within their rights to draw attention to the petition in schools, the expectation at Catholic schools is that the pupils are Catholics living following the rules of this belief system. Hence I feel that for one homosexual students can not complain when they are told that their life style is a sin as that is one of the beliefs of the religion they supposedly belong to and they have the option of moving to a school where this is not the belief if they have a problem. I have no problem with religion imposing homosexuality as a sin on their own followers it is only when it is forced on those outside the religion that I have an issue.
Children aged11-17 can't vote. Ergo, they should not be allowed to sign petitions. If they're not old enough to comprehend the political system in this country, they're not old enough to sign petitions surrounding such political (in this case called religious) agenda.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor112996
That is ridiculous...i thought churches weren't supposed to be judgemental...such hipocrites.
DILLIGAF
"it’s when you’re acting selflessly, that you are at your bravest"
- Four.
♥
I feel that the Catholic Church is well within their rights to draw attention to the petition in schools, the expectation at Catholic schools is that the pupils are Catholics living following the rules of this belief system. Hence I feel that for one homosexual students can not complain when they are told that their life style is a sin as that is one of the beliefs of the religion they supposedly belong to and they have the option of moving to a school where this is not the belief if they have a problem. I have no problem with religion imposing homosexuality as a sin on their own followers it is only when it is forced on those outside the religion that I have an issue.
At school age, parents usually make the decision about what school their child attends and what religion their child is. Many of these children/teens are too young to have really made up their own mind about what they believe.
They're still at an age where parents/teachers/peers have a big influence over the decisions they make, so it's not right to abuse that influence by having them sign a petition about something many of them may not really understand or have made their own mind up about yet.
At school age, parents usually make the decision about what school their child attends and what religion their child is. Many of these children/teens are too young to have really made up their own mind about what they believe.
They're still at an age where parents/teachers/peers have a big influence over the decisions they make, so it's not right to abuse that influence by having them sign a petition about something many of them may not really understand or have made their own mind up about yet.
The thing is that if that's their case they already being brought up will within the catholic faith and this silly notice really won't change this.
Where I come from children have been asked to leave a Catholic school because they have homosexual parents as they can not teach them that their parents are sinners.
Well where I live you have little to no choice other than to go to a Catholic school. Although in recent years there are more multi denominational schools opening.
How they're brought up doesn't change that most of them are too young to understand these things and shouldn't have anyone pressuring them to sign a petition. It's a school, for education, not for telling kids to sign a petition against gay marriage. It has no place in a school, regardless of the school being religious.
