The religious right to harm others

In recent Canadian news, story of the Ontario Catholic school system, who up until this point, has not permitted student-clubs in those schools, to be labelled "Gay-Straight-Alliances."  There has been a recent amendment proposed, which seeks to allow for this.

The first article we'll look at, entitled "Church rejects Ontario’s gay-straight club decision, accuses government of ‘micromanagement’," is the source of my [word-for-word] quotations below.  The first of which being some alarming news from Cardinal Thomas Collins.

"The Ontario Liberals are engaging in unnecessary government “micromanagement” and disregarding the Catholic Church’s own ability to tackle bullying, Cardinal Thomas Collins, head of the Ontario Assembly of Catholic Bishops, said Monday.

Well, isn't that nice. The Catholic Church thinks it is completely able to manage the bullying of gay students.  I wonder how that would work out.
I have also written more about this bold attitude, and it can be found in the next post after this one.

“If the point is that there is something unacceptable about those Catholic principles, then I find that troubling and wonder whether caricatures of the Catholic faith are in play,” he said.

I think the answer to that inferred question would be up to him.  But yes, I too find it quite troubling, that this seems a matter of Catholic principles, not an incidental problem, such as drug use in schools.  And just previously, he was wondering why it shouldn't be up to them to handle the problem however you see fit?  The very same problem that is directly related to the core principals of the Catholic Church??  This guy can't be serious, can he?

Cardinal Collins, also the head of the Archdiocese of Toronto, said organizations’ names have specific meaning, and so what a group is named may determine the group’s activity.

“If someone asks you to join the Liberal, Conservative or New Democratic Party, you rightly expect something different from each. So the key issue is not just the name itself, but the content connected with the name, with the ‘brand.’”

Yes, what a group is named, can influence the group's activity.  I think that's the entire point of this in the first place.  To allow them to work on equality and working together to fight homophobia, no matter what your sexual orientation may be.  Of course, I do get the impression that he is inferring that there will be gay sex in this club.  My experience around superstitiously motivated homophobia makes this seem somewhat likely, but let's not read between the lines too much.

I must admit, I'm not really sure what he's trying to say with his example from politics, however.  Yes, different political platforms have different content.  I suppose then that the notion of gay and straight students being allies, is not something that will be receiving this Cardinal's vote.  At least, this is what I'm getting from all this beating around the bush...

He said he is puzzled as to “why a piece of provincial legislation is being used to micromanage the naming of student clubs” and “why Catholics are not free to design their own methods to fight bullying?” 

Well now you're getting to the hearth of the matter.  Might it have something to do with the $7,000,000,000 that goes to the Ontario Catholic private school system annually?  Perhaps he is not aware that if they want to manage their own school system completely redundantly, perhaps a private status would be the way to go.  Privatization of schools is usually the thing to look at if "micromanagement" is not welcome?  And again with the "why can't we manage the bullying that our own doctrine condones?"

Well, I suppose we have time for one more admission that

“GSAs are externally developed and they don’t reflect the unique values our Catholic schools are based on,” he said.‘‘Our concern is on focusing on Catholic values and the safety of all students and ensure they are protected. In our view the word [gay] is distraction. We want to focus on the safety of the students.”

And I must say, I completely agree with his evaluation of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs).  They are developed externally?  Well I would have to think so, considering what I know of the Catholic Church in relation to the LGBT community.  Just the same as the notion of transubstantiation wasn't exactly developed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Yes, the concern is so blatantly toward focusing on Catholic values, rather than those of a modern society.  I can at least appreciate that clear admission that this is not about micro-management, nor is it about the name of a group, but simply the fact that the good Cardinal is alarmed that his schools might soon have to accept gay individuals for who they are, as the relics of primitive superstition and bigotry are far too slowly eroded by the elements of the 21st century.

Here is another interesting article of the discourse between the Catholic Church and the Progressive Liberals, or more to the point, Cardinal Thomas Collins, and Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Some good points are made, such as how the government is the authority on schooling (when publicly funded), rather than the church.  But of course, our dear Cardinal Collins seems to have no ethical concerns when it comes to dishonesty and twisting issues around to suit him, as usual.


Please note that there have been two followup entries concerning this matter:

• Further thought on the Catholic Church managing their own problems...
• Outcome of the Ontario Catholic School System, and Bill 13

Skepti-Kel.