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Author
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Topic: Fighting for secular education
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lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534
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posted 26 May 2003 05:20 PM
Just before the suicide-murder bombing thread was closed, it got off on an interesting tangent, not directly related to the Middle East - the question of secular education. I am a strong believer in secular education and was involved in the school board campaign of a friend who was running for the MEMO (mouvement pour une école moderne et ouverte) against the Catholic fundamentalists in charge of the old Catholic school board here (most schools were Catholic, though a lot of the pupils were either from non-practising households or non-Catholic backgrounds). In Montreal at least, we have succeeded in eliminating faith-based boards. Unfortunately, in my opinion, funding is still provided to private faith-based schools. I know teachers who have taught (languages, mostly) at a Chassidic school and a Muslim school in Montreal, as they needed a job. They would confirm that the practices in those schools is counter to the Quebec and federal human rights charters in terms of women's equality at least.
I think the fight for secular education remains an important struggle. Here are a couple of pertinent sites: one on secular education from Britain, and a list of resources from India. Discussing with a friend from India (who is also the father of a teenager) who was very wary of the saffron tinge and its influence on public education there...
http://www.c.s.e.freeuk.com/ http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/2002/SecularEducationRes0303.html [ 26 May 2003: Message edited by: lagatta ]
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469
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posted 26 May 2003 05:30 PM
I see no need for schools to dole out religious education for so long as there exist a) parents to do that, and b) weekends to do it in.And the idea that my tax dollars might go towards paying someone to tell impressionable children that homosexuality is wrong, or that premarital sex is bad, or that God really, really, really doesn't want you to wear a condom if you have sex is frankly abhorrent.
From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002
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Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
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posted 26 May 2003 07:19 PM
When we undertake to segregate our children along religious (and quite often) "racial" lines, we prevent them from having the experience of understanding that people different from them are, if different, still people.We know of places in the world that are in a feedback loop of hate. And those places segregate thier children along religious lines. Children growing up with limited experience of other people are far, far easier to indoctrinate into the cycle of hatred against the "other."
From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001
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