Friends,
I am taking the liberty to send you yet another column. I am sending it to you because of its relevance to this week's deadline. It will go to print next week, so there are some issues I can't comment on, as they will be dealt with. If it has any merit, feel free to pass it along.
CF
I would like to propose a new law, one that every family in Alberta must obey. It's a law that I believe in, practice regularly, and have strongly convictions about. Furthermore, if this law is not obeyed, then the Family Law Police (a new government bureaucracy that I would create) would help enforce it—even to the point of fines and/or jail time. In another culture, the penalty, of course, would likely be death.
The law? It would be as follows: Read the Bible and follows its teachings.
(Sorry if you just gagged on your coffee, or broke a window with your howl of protest.) I wonder how far I would get with such a proposal? I would be a marked man, as would my family. In the afore-mentioned cultures, this approach does happen, possibly most prevalent in an Islamic society. We know scant details of, say, hands being cut off (Afghanistan), public floggings (Iran), and beheadings (Saudi Arabia)--for starters. And I'm sure there's a stoning going on somewhere; funny how it's always the woman who get tagged....
One might even throw the Salem Witch Trials for good measure.
I can anticipate the reaction as I write this, and the responses would be, among others, something like the following:
1. What right does he have to cram his religion down my throat? 2. How can he legislate his morality? 3. Shouldn't parents have the paramount responsibility for what values they expose to their children, and not some loudmouth individual? 4. What if my right is his wrong—who's actually right? 5. And, how can he be so intolerant?
I write the above with tongue firmly planted in cheek, of course. But because of the horrific abuse of the English law and language—where certain words have changed their meaning (with “multiculturalism” and “tolerance” and “human rights” being a few of them)--certain laws are slipping in, past all rational lawmakers, educators, and even parents.
The latest outrage is found in the education portfolio, something called Bill 2, and Section 16, in particular. Read quickly and naively, it appears to mean that very little change is in the works for educators and parents alike. However, a little scraping beneath the surface reveals that the ramifications of Bill 2 (ie., the new Education Act) are very serious, indeed.
Anyone in public, private, Catholic, or home school are on the verge of having their parental rights neutralized. Certain things must not only be not taught, but, in fact, their polar opposite must be taught—and taught as good.
It's almost like some nutcase telling me what religion or morality I must teach my kids. Actually, it's not “almost,” it's “definitely.”
When I am told to teach my kids about a sexual orientation that Kirk Cameron calls “unnatural,” I have issues. When I am having someone else's opposing morality crammed down my throat, there's an issue here. If I, as a parent, do not have paramount authority as to what my kids are being taught—no matter what the school context—people, we are on the slippery slope of pre-World War II Germany. And when my faith and convictions are being thrown aside for want of a loud, belligerent minority, I wonder—I really wonder—who is being intolerant?
I suggest, if nothing else, a good compromise would be the co-existence of our respective moralities. I can let people live their way, whether I agree with it or not: Just let me live my way, especially as a responsible, moral parent that wants the best for my child.
But to legislate content, that has a strong anti-faith, anti-rational bias, is the depth of spongy totalitarianism. This is more than a typical home education rant; this goes beyond the private versus public school debate. There is just alarm for every parent in Alberta.
This, people, is a fight for personal rights for every parent in this province, no matter what the issue is. You can fill in the blank for your family, but the individual example is not the issue here. The issue at stake is the individual freedom and democratic liberty that is being stolen from right under our noses by a Conservative (but perhaps not so conservative) government.
You will want to stay tuned to every form of media that has the courage to deal with this. The battle is far from over; in fact, it's only heating up. And I'll make sure I turn the other cheek in all my dealings with those who don't agree with me.
I read that in the Good Book, too, though I don't know if I'm allowed to say that anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment