This was posted on the United Families International Blog. It is certainly something we as Americans need to be concerned about as this is starting to happen in our own nation.
Mandatory sex-ed in Britain to override religious liberty
In Religious Freedom, Sex Education on March 24, 2010 at 1:36 pm
The British House of Commons recently passed a new mandatory sexual education bill that would require all schools—public, private, and religious—to include “non-judgmental” information on homosexuality, contraception, and abortion in their sex-ed courses. According to proponent’s of the bill, the new legislation does not violate any religious liberties, but only ensures students get all the necessary information.The government’s education minister, Ed Balls, explained that the new legislation still allows faith schools to identify their position on an issue but simply requires them to present both sides of the argument. “They can explain the view of their faith,” he said, “but what they can’t do is say that they are not going to teach children about contraception, how to access contraception, or how to use contraception.”
He further explained teachers will be required to teach “different views on homosexuality, they cannot teach homophobia, they must explain civil partnership and must give a balanced view on abortion. They must explain both sides of the argument and how to access an abortion. The same is true on contraception as well.”
Faith schools, therefore, will be able to say they are opposed to abortion but they must do so without sounding judgmental and while also educating students on why abortion is acceptable and where and how they can obtain one. As one observer so adequately pointed out, “It is facilitation under the guise of information.”
It is another clear case of the push for sexual rights overriding religious rights. Under the auspice of neutrality and education, the government will be forcing faith schools to teach and reinforce within its own walls a secular view of sexuality that directly contradicts its own. Such an imposition on any person’s religious beliefs should not be tolerated by anyone who believes in freedom of religion.
The bill passed the House of Commons by a vote of 177-68 and is currently under debate in the House of Lords.
4 comments:
i must be nieve. i cant even spell it. i must be ignorant. i must be immature.
this doesnt bother me as much as it probably should. i am WELL aware that by the time my kids are in high school i will have to teach them to only go out with members of the opposite sex. i am well aware that homosexuality and sex in general will be more than out in the open, since it almost already is. but...does it matter?
temptation, sins, corruption, etc. has and always will be apart of life. it changes in it's forms, topics, and intensity, but the one sure thing is the gospel. and no matter what day and age you live in, if you don't hold to that you fall. in this day and age, when sex is being taught in school. when homosexuality is considered normal or ok somehow, i dont think that changes anything. if we teach our kids the gospel, if we teach them how to have the spirit and how to follow it, they will be ok.i have read so many quotes lately (16 yr old sunday school teacher) about how this is the chosen generation. that they are stronger than any generation before. and they have to be because of the stronger evil surrounding them...but that's just it - god won't send them here if he knows they will just fail. He knows that if they are taught correct principles, even in the worst of times, they can choose to do right and they will be ok. so i dont really worry about my kids. i have to my part...and then its up to them.
i apologize if this makes anyone upset, it's just how i feel about it. and i know, ,i'm young, so maybe in 5 years when i've grown up, i will have changed my feelings on the matter. but for now...that's what i have to say about it.
Becca,
Actually the scariest thing about this is not what government is teaching to our children as much as government forcing itself through laws into the private sector. It is the fact that if this bill passes in Britian parents will no longer be able to send their children to private religious schools (where parents pay tuition)so their children are not taught these things. Other things to follow from a law like this would be a law to make all buildings that conduct marriages public or private have to perform homosexual marriages. If that happens then our Bishop by law would have to perform homosexual marriages in our chapels and by law our church would have to allow homosexuals to be married in our Temples as well as anyone else. Obviously that would shut down the Temples and the work of God. Such a thing could also extend to the family. It is already illegal to home school children in Britian. America is following very closely behind Britian with social laws. Don't think the government will stop at that and won't require parents to do the same as it is requiring schools. That is why we need to care. We need to protect our right and privilege to worship God "according to the dictates of our own conscience".
I like in the UK and yes, it is frightening. I will be posting about this later on today (or perhaps at some point in the next week!). Makes me glad we made the decision to homeschool but this government is trying to get a hold onto that too.
I stand corrected. You can still home school in the UK. Good thing.
Post a Comment