FSTDT Forums
Community => Religion and Philosophy => Topic started by: Nightangel8212 on January 07, 2012, 07:07:38 pm
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Since the old thread disappeared with the old forums, I'll give you guys a refresher on what the issue was and what's been going on with it...
Okay, Morinville, Alberta has four schools, all run by the Catholic School Board while claiming to be public and offered "religious optional" classes for the non-Catholics. The problem with this was that they had religion permeating through ALL of their lessons. In my opinion, the education offered at these schools is horrible (my 12 year old niece didn't even know the United States was our neighbour to the south and that ALBERTA was her fucking home province!). Now, I could understand the schools working this way fifty years ago when 80% of the population of Morinville identified as being Catholic. But now only 30% of the population does, so of course, the parents wanting a secular education (after having issues with their children talking about religion and hell at home) want a good secular option, which the school itself was very resistant to provide.
Finally, they caved in... slightly. I found out that what they did was move a few mobile outbuildings to the sides of the school... small buildings. And the school said that without the religious aspect of the school in the ciricullum (sp?) that the students seeking non-religious instruction would only get about AN HOUR of schooling in a day!
My sister says it almost seems like they're segregating the non-believing students from the believers. She knows some parents that are paying upwards of $300-$400 to have their kids bussed out to neighbouring towns so they can get proper education. My niece described watching a video in her class about the crucification of Jesus Christ and that he had blood pouring down his face from the fucking thorn crown! My sister and her husband don't have the money to bus their kids off, so they're stuck. They either keep them in the religious classes or stick them in a room overcrowded with students to get one hour worth of lessons a day.
Yup, that's fair to all! (sarcasm)
Fuck... Religious... Schools.
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Since the old thread disappeared with the old forums, I'll give you guys a refresher on what the issue was and what's been going on with it...
Okay, Morinville, Alberta has four schools, all run by the Catholic School Board while claiming to be public and offered "religious optional" classes for the non-Catholics. The problem with this was that they had religion permeating through ALL of their lessons. In my opinion, the education offered at these schools is horrible (my 12 year old niece didn't even know the United States was our neighbour to the south and that ALBERTA was her fucking home province!). Now, I could understand the schools working this way fifty years ago when 80% of the population of Morinville identified as being Catholic. But now only 30% of the population does, so of course, the parents wanting a secular education (after having issues with their children talking about religion and hell at home) want a good secular option, which the school itself was very resistant to provide.
Finally, they caved in... slightly. I found out that what they did was move a few mobile outbuildings to the sides of the school... small buildings. And the school said that without the religious aspect of the school in the ciricullum (sp?) that the students seeking non-religious instruction would only get about AN HOUR of schooling in a day!
My sister says it almost seems like they're segregating the non-believing students from the believers. She knows some parents that are paying upwards of $300-$400 to have their kids bussed out to neighbouring towns so they can get proper education. My niece described watching a video in her class about the crucification of Jesus Christ and that he had blood pouring down his face from the fucking thorn crown! My sister and her husband don't have the money to bus their kids off, so they're stuck. They either keep them in the religious classes or stick them in a room overcrowded with students to get one hour worth of lessons a day.
Yup, that's fair to all! (sarcasm)
Fuck... Religious... Schools.
In Ancient Greece, a certain philosopher (I'm blanking on the name right now) would demonstrate people's idiocy by pretending to be an idiot himself, and asking simple questions that showed they were hypocrites.
That's what I would do if I was the student in this situation.
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I think it might be time for the citizens of Morinville to find a lawyer that is willing to make a challenge under the charter of rights. Other options include organizing a tax revolt and refuse to pay the school portion of their bill or getting elected in mass to the board and force the changes.
If none of those options are viable, violence.
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In Ancient Greece, a certain philosopher (I'm blanking on the name right now) would demonstrate people's idiocy by pretending to be an idiot himself, and asking simple questions that showed they were hypocrites.
Er. Socrates?
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In Ancient Greece, a certain philosopher (I'm blanking on the name right now) would demonstrate people's idiocy by pretending to be an idiot himself, and asking simple questions that showed they were hypocrites.
Er. Socrates?
Yeah, What's-his-face!
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This kind of stuff is precisely why I oppose continuing to have a publicly funded Catholic school system. The sense of entitlement it creates leads to all kinds of problems, especially in a place like Morinville.
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My sister says it almost seems like they're segregating the non-believing students from the believers. She knows some parents that are paying upwards of $300-$400 to have their kids bussed out to neighbouring towns so they can get proper education. My niece described watching a video in her class about the crucification of Jesus Christ and that he had blood pouring down his face from the fucking thorn crown! My sister and her husband don't have the money to bus their kids off, so they're stuck. They either keep them in the religious classes or stick them in a room overcrowded with students to get one hour worth of lessons a day.
How the hell has anyone not sued them yet? I don't know how the laws are up there, but that sounds like that's probably illegal.
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A few reasons:
1) Canada doesn't have the same separation between church and state when it comes to schools* as the US, meaning that we can -- and do -- have publicly funded religious schools, namely the Catholic school system. As a result, it's much more difficult to make a case when dealing with religious abuse.
2) Lawsuits are much, much less common up here. Differences in the legal system and different cultural ideas play a role in that.
3) Morinville is a relatively small, heavily Catholic community. If this happened in a large city, there would probably be a huge stink over it, but as it stands the case hasn't really received all that much attention from the media.
That being said, I think this situation definitely merits a lawsuit.
* It should be noted that the public schools in urban areas don't seem to be as affected by this. All of the schools I attended, save for the brief time I spent in a Catholic school, were very secular. This seems to be more of an issue in smaller communities.
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All I know right now is what I've been hearing from my sister and her family. According to her husband, the school principal at the school my youngest nephew and niece attend has decided to have no involvement with the secular part of the education.
Oh and the 3-400 dollar bus rides? Yeah, that's per KID. So my sister and her husband would wind up paying around $900-$1200 just to get their kids to a decent school... which, obviously, they can't afford.
Another thing that bothers me is that now my eight year old niece is freaking out because her teacher told the class that the world is supposed to come to an end this year on Dec 21. YOU DON'T SAY THING'S LIKE THAT TO A FUCKING EIGHT YEAR OLD!
And I think there ARE parents who tried to sue, but nothing came of it. It winds up just becoming talks between the parents and school board... and the Minister of Education seems to be getting involved only when the parents are ready to murder him and even when he DOES get involved, he doesn't do jack shit.
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Another thing that bothers me is that now my eight year old niece is freaking out because her teacher told the class that the world is supposed to come to an end this year on Dec 21. YOU DON'T SAY THING'S LIKE THAT TO A FUCKING EIGHT YEAR OLD!
My response would be to go in the next day, pick up the teacher, toss it bodily into the nearest busy street, and teach the damn class myself.
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Wait...a teacher is trying to install panic and fear into....8 YEAR OLDS!?
So just to reiterate but the Catholic religion does not actually have a set date for the end of the world yes? 12/12/2012 is just when the Mayans ran out of dates on their calender right?
Ironbite-SO WHY IS SHE TELLING THESE KIDS THE WORLD'S GOING TO END ON 12/12/12!!!!???
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Because even Canada has its fair share of stupid assholes.
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http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Archived.aspx?pd=3199
Apparently, some of the parents have gotten sick and tired of waiting for the government to do anything constructive, and so they made a Human Rights complaint. I also learned that the mobile buildings are in PLACE, but are not functioning yet. The schools also won't give the non-religious students access to anything except for the washrooms and a half hour of gym time a day...
The new Education Minister has stated that if they three school boards fighting this out don't come to a resolution by the middle of January, then HE'LL settle the issue himself and that all sides might not like his solution.
Yup, things are heating up again...
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Am I the only one who keeps reading the title as Moronville Schools?
Fuck these schools man.
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Shane, believe me... Morinville has been the brunt of that joke since it's conception. To everyone else in Alberta, Morinville IS MORONville...
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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Simons+Human+rights+commission+must+treat+complaints+Morinville/5981590/story.html
This article explains the situation better than I can, the full concerns involved, and what's currently being done. I found out that it's not a half hour a day for using the gym for the secular kids either...
It's half an hour a WEEK.
I seriously hope the Catholic School Board goes belly up over this...
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Wow...that's just....wow.
Ironbite-how is this legal?
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It's not.
So nobody minds if I eat the stupid teachers right? They'll give me the hershey squirts but I think I can bear it - for the children
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Hell, just eat the entire town, buildings and all.
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Wait...a teacher is trying to install panic and fear into....8 YEAR OLDS!?
So just to reiterate but the Catholic religion does not actually have a set date for the end of the world yes? 12/12/2012 is just when the Mayans ran out of dates on their calender right?
Ironbite-SO WHY IS SHE TELLING THESE KIDS THE WORLD'S GOING TO END ON 12/12/12!!!!???
The Mayans had several calendars for different uses, but the one this is based on is called the long count calendar and covers 13 "Baktuns" of about 394 years each. The 13th Baktun is coming to an end on Dec, 21, 2012. What most of the doomssayers either don't realize or won't acknowledge is that the Mayans mention 2012 only twice, neither of which have anything to do with the end of the world, and that they mention events after 2012. The whole 2012 doomsday talk is nothing but pure crap, especially that based on the Mayan calendar.
For a teacher to tell impressionable 8 year old the world is ending this year is both heinous and callous.
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It's also telling the kids that "whatever they want to become doesn't matter because they don't matter".
Ironbite-way to go teach.
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I'm sorry Timmy, you can't be president because WES ALL GOIN DIE THIS YEAR!
Beth, you can't ever become a singer, COS 2012 HAHAHAHA
I got me an idea - since we're going to all die anyway - you negotiate the terms of your severance as of 12/21/12, you won't be needing the job anyway, right? So no biggy if you get fired the same day you die, nobody'll be around to laugh at you.
Except me.
On december 22nd
And it'll be hillarious
But you don't have the fuckin' balls to do it, because you know you're full of horseshit, right? I thought so.
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Why does the Christian doomsday crowd care what a bunch of people (brown-skinned savages, no less!!!) who worshiped blood thirsty false gods that demanded human sacrifices thought? To give them any credibility undermines their own god who said that no one can know the date of his return.
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Why does the Christian doomsday crowd care what a bunch of people (brown-skinned savages, no less!!!) who worshiped blood thirsty false gods that demanded human sacrifices thought? To give them any credibility undermines their own god who said that no one can know the date of his return.
Shhhh. You'll let them know how idiotic they're acting about this. Then we'll have to find out something else to point and laugh at them for.