Are Muslims taking over your kids' school? Beware the "Trojan Horse"!

Today's online edition of The Telegraph reports the announcement by British Education Secretary Michael Gove that, beginning in September, all of England’s 20,000 primary and secondary schools will be required to teach "British values of tolerance and fairness". Imagine that!

Why do you suppose Her Britannic Majesty's Government feels it necessary to institute this campaign? Errr... well... it may have something to do with a report by a number of head teachers [= school principals, for Walt's North American readers] revealing an organized campaign to impose a "narrow, faith-based ideology" at some schools in Birmingham.

Which "faith-based ideology" would that be? Why, Islamic fundamentalism, of course. No prizes for guessing!

A report by Ofsted, the toothless watchdog of English education, recommended placing five Birmingham schools in "special measures" after "deeply worrying" findings that the schools had been taken over by Islamists.

One of the schools was funding a Madrassa -- a school for the study of Islam -- from its own budget, while at another Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia. A third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground while another school taught in biology that "evolution is not what we believe".

Mr. Gove said that this would change. He told Parliament, "We already require independent schools, academies and free schools to respect British values. Now we will consult on strengthening this standard further, so that all schools actively promote British values." Mr. Gove did not include the word "Christian" in his speech, nor did he explain exactly what values should be considered "British".

However, current guidance asks schools to "enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law" and "provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England". Pupils are also encouraged "to respect the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".

How that last part squares with letting Muslims drive their "Trojan Horse" into Britain's schools is similarly unclear.

And, dear reader, lest you think the Islamic fundamentalists are only taking over British schools, be aware that the camel's nose is already inside the tent flap in every Western country, particularly places which are determined to "celebrate diversity" at the expense of European Christian culture and values, such as Ontario (see below).

Have you checked your kids' school lately to see what's going on there? Do they, for example, have a prayer room for the Muslim kids, but not for the Christians? (Could be...even in a so-called Catholic school. See below.) Take a look. Take a good look!

Further reading (lots of it!) on WWW:
"US schools turning kids into Muslim fanatics, says ACT! founder"
"Islamization of Ontario schools still part of government agenda" - Ontario residents! Please keep this in mind as you vote on Thursday!
"Muslim camel's nose inside door of 'Catholic' school"
"Geert Wilders warns USA: Muslims taking over Europe -- you're next!"

Senior Ontario "educator" charged with child porn offences; lesbian premier recoils in horror

Professor Benjamin Levin is a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He is also the Canada research chair in education leadership and policy.

One more thing. According to Toronto police, Prof. Levin likes watching and making child pornography. The alleged paedophile was arrested today and charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count each of making child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and agreeing to or arranging for a sexual offence against a child under 16.

The shit-hammer falling on another old pervert would be an unremarkable local story except for yet one more thing. The alleged kiddy diddler is apparently rather highly placed in Ontario government circles. He was a member of the transition team that smoothed the way into the premier's office for Kathleen Wynne, Ontario's [Canada's? The world's? Ed.] first out and proud lesbian head of government.

Again, so what? Well, don't forget that Prof. Levin is an "educator" -- an expert when it comes to teaching the kiddos the 3 R's. And sex education too. Of course. Levin served as Deputy Minister of Education from 2004 to 2009 under former premier Dalton McGuinty. The Minister of Education for much of that time was... wait for it... Kathleen Wynne.

The two of them were instrumental in writing and promoting a new sex education curriculum for the Province of Ontario, which Walt has written about before. (See "further reading", below.) The new sex ed course, targetting children as young as 6, would have thrust the LGBT agenda right down the kids' little throats [or worse? Ed.], teaching them that when it comes to sex, anything goes!

The pushback against the queer curriculum was such that "Premier Dad" ordered it shelved pending a rethink (and an election) and hurriedly shuffled Education Minister Wynne off to a minor portfolio, where she languished until McGuinty unexpectedly quit last year, rather than face an enraged electorate. Now that Ms Wynne is wearing the pants [No. It's her "spouse" that wears the pants now. Ed.] the Ministry floated a trial balloon this spring, suggesting that there was "popular pressure" to revive the new "progressive" curriculum.

Today, the latest Minister of Education, Lez "Sensible" Sandals, attempted to distance the Ontario government from Levin, announcing that he has been suspended from his "work" with the ministry "pending the outcome of the investigation". At the University Avenue Kremlin [Queen's Park, surely! Ed.] Premier Wynne's office said it could not comment on a matter under investigation and referred all questions to the police.

Further reading on WWW:
Ontario schools forced to promote masturbation, homosexuality
Lesbian cabinet minister pushed queer sex ed plan
Pro-queer schools agenda returns as "anti-bullying" legislation

Sex with vegetables? Toronto school board links you to more info

WARNING: Following the links in this article will lead you to websites containing immoral and, frankly, disgusting content.

Now that Walt has your attention... It's been known for some time that the Toronto District School Board is dominated by barking mad, left wingnuts. That's the public board, not the Catholic one, although some think the Catholic board is little better.

The TDSB is the one which favours tearooms for the queers, prayer rooms for the Muslims, and segregated schools for the black kids. [Really?! Ed.] Yes, really. That's so the black kids won't feel inferior. They'll learn better in their, errr, "special school", and all will pass and one day one of them will be a famous rap artist. This year six (6) chillun have signed up for the TDSB's new "Afrocentric" high school.

The TDSB is also well  known for promoting deviant sexuality. In their abhorrence of traditional family values, they support, promote and teach anything that is not straight. Mind you, they can say with a straight face that they are just taking orders from Ontario's Liberal government, and its queer-loving education minister, Laurel Broten.

If you're in any doubt about the TDSB's stance on homosexuality, bestiality, and other "alternative lifestyles", visit the "Websites" page in the "Community" section of their website. The blurb at the top of the page says it lists "websites contain interesting facts, historical events, people profiles, and other items that may be useful in preparing lessons and planning events for your classroom and school."

There, in amongst the listings for "Anti-Sexism and Gender Equity", "Islamic History Month" (coming soon!) and "Anti-Classism and Social-Economic Equality" (that's the communist one), you'll find a link to the website of the "Coalition for Positive Sexuality".  Enter only if you're brave and open-minded, because here's a sample of what's inside -- the "Just Say Yes" page, which advocates encounters with vegetables -- yes, vegetables! -- and other interesting options.

Just Say Yes is about having a positive attitude towards sexuality -- gay, straight,bisexual or whatever. It's about saying "yes" to sex you do want, and "no" to sex you don't. It says there's nothing wrong with you if you decide to have sex, and nothing wrong with you if you decide not to.

On the "Pro Sex" page which follows, they tell us:
Most of us learn that our bodies, and our sex, are things to be ashamed of. Most of us learn that sex means a man on top of a woman, and that the only other choice is abstinence. But sex can be lots of things ...

Women have sex with women, men have sex with men, women have sex with men -- and sometimes the best sex is with yourself!

There are lots of safe and fun ways to get off, which you probably won't learn in school. You can do many of these things all by yourself as well as with others, and you can talk about them even if you don't want to do them. Don't feel like you have to do everything on this page, but don't feel like anything is automatically off limits either. 

There are "lots of safe and fun ways to get off", they tell us. And they give a list of 12 -- let's call it the Dirty Dozen -- including:

suck, kiss, touch, bite, fondle, nibble, squeeze, and lick someone's body, nipples, calves, toes, neck, ass, dick or vulva ...

look at sexy pictures and videos ...

make up or act out fantasies, talk dirty, dress up, strip down, or cross-dress (dressing in the clothes of the other gender) ...

play with your own or someone else's ass or vagina, put your fingers, dildoes, vegetables, or buttplugs into them.

Enough already. You've got the disgusting flavour. But, some will say, so what? We know there are people out there who think it's OK to go way beyond the Church's teachings on the proper place of sexuality in our lives. That's their choice. Let them lose their souls if they so choose.

After all, it's not like these things are being taught in our classrooms. Right? Right? Errr... well... maybe not quite, although the Ontario government's new sex ed curriculum is heading in that direction. All the same, the people who push the agenda of perversion on the TDSB's website may be the same people who work in the TDSB schools, maybe even teach your kids.

That's the fear of Dr. Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College. In a letter to Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen, he writes:
"The TDSB — through its website — is corrupting Ontario’s children with extraordinary explicit instruction.  According to Section 172 of the Criminal Code of Canada, it is an indictable offence to ‘endanger the morals of the child.’"

Dr. McVety insists that it is the responsibility of the Ontario government to protect the children. The "information" available through the TDSB website is "crude, vulgar, [and] corrupting kids", he says, "and the police should be brought in." Indeed.

BREAKING NEWS: A carrier pigeon headed south for the winter landed on Ed.'s head [desk, surely! Ed.] this afternoon, bearing news that the TDSB has taken the offending link and a number of others off its website, so you may find the first link in this piece changed or inoperative [or not working. Ed.] A small victory for the voices of the normal people, but the culture wars go on.

Islamization of Ontario schools still part of government agenda

What moved Agent 17 to send me the article on the perils of remaining silent in the face of Islamic fundamentalism? As a former resident of the Greater Toronto Area [Just one of many who have fled the capital of multiculturalism! Ed.], Agent 17 was concerned by reports that Islamic prayers have been introduced in Ottawa, Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, while the Lord's Prayer has been removed.

Well might he be concerned. No...alarmed! In Canada and the USA, the Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being, but the fanatics are starting to march. In Britain they are already marching...literally. We received [but Ed. has misfiled!] a video showing British Muslims marching through the streets of Luton calling for the police and other non-believers to die and go to hell!

Now the poison of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading through the ghetto of the GTA and other North American cities. Yet we remain silent.

However, this is not exactly new news. Agent 17 asks Walt if the reports he's reading are true. They are, and Walt wrote about the issue last summer. See
"Update on Islamization of Toronto schools"
"Muslim prayers in Toronto schools: a Muslim viewpoint"
"Islam, imams and the Canadian Charter of Rights"
"'Go back to the hellhole you came from', sez Canadian Muslim prof"

Now the 2011-12 school year is closer to the end than the beginning. In spite of a few tepid protests -- denounced by the usual suspects as "racist" and "Islamophobic" -- the imams are still coming into the so-called public schools to preach Allah-knows-what. The Ontario government is still pushing "Gay-straight alliances" and perverted sex education. And respect for diversity and "minority rights", of course. Yet we remain silent.

"Go back to the hellhole you came from", sez Canadian Muslim prof

Walt is obliged to correct the belief of some of his Agents and readers that all the Muslims who've immigrated to Canada in the last decade are living on welfare in Toronto. One notable exception to the stereotype is Mahfooz A. Kanwar, emeritus professor of sociology at Mount Royal College in Calgary.

Dr. Kanwar came to Canada in 1966 (via the UK and then the USA), and seems to have embraced the values of his adopted country, even if that means forgetting about imposing his Muslim culture on that of the majority in the name of the official multiculturalism so beloved of the Canadian government.

Walt's attention has only recently been drawn (by Agent 6) to some quite politically incorrect statements made by Prof. Kanwar in response to demands by some Muslim immigrants to the Winnipeg area. Just over a year ago, about a dozen Muslim families who recently immigrated to Canada demanded that the Louis Riel School Division excuse their children from music and coed physical education programmes for religious reasons. Like the Taliban, the families believe music is un-Islamic, and that phys ed classes should be segregated by gender even in grade school.

The school board reacted in the usual PC Canadian way, bending itself double to accommodate these demands, just like the Toronto District School Board. (See "Update on Islamization of Toronto schools", posted here in July.) For instance, although music and phys ed are compulsory parts of the Manitoba curriculum, the educators said they might have the Muslim kids do a writing project on music to satisfy the legal requirement. In short, the school district tried to find a way to adapt the curriculum to fit the wishes of the minority, rather than requiring the minority to fit into the school and Canadian culture. Another case of the tail wagging the PC dog.

Dr. Kanwar, however, begs to differ. Although a member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, he said he would "tell them, this is Canada, and in Canada, we teach music and physical education in our schools. If you don't like it, leave. If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law."

He added that he is tired of hearing about such out-of-tune demands from newcomers to Canada. [Obviously the good doctor is an accomplished punster. Ed.] "Immigrants to Canada should adjust to Canada , not the other way around," is how he put it.

Dr. Kanwar says he used to buy into the official multiculturalism which became fashionable during the reign of Trudeau, the Sun King. He makes it clear, that like most Canadians, he is pleased that Canada has citizens from every country and corner in the world, but he rejects "official multiculturalism" -- the state policy "that entrenches the lie" that all cultures and beliefs are of equal value and of equal validity in Canada. [Walt's emphasis.]

"The fact is, Canada has an enviable culture based on Judeo-Christian values -- not Muslim values -- with British and French rule of law and traditions and that's why it's better than all of the other places in the world. We are heading down a dangerous path if we allow the idea that sharia law has a place in Canada. It does not. It is completely incompatible with the idea and reality of Canada," says the professor.

Back in the Trudeau era, Dr. Kanwar founded the Pakistan-Canada Association, and was a big fan of state-sponsored multicult. But his views changed when he started listening to the people who joined his group. They badmouthed Canada, weren't interested in knowing Canadians or even in learning one of the country's official languages. They created cultural ghettos which were duly funded by the Canadian government.

"One day it dawned on me that the reason all of us wanted to move here was going to disappear if we didn't start defending Canada and its fundamental values." That's when he started speaking out against the dangers of official multiculturalism, and he's been doing so ever since. Click here to read "Tolerance misplaced" written by Dr. Kanwar in 2009.

See also "Multiculturalism fails in Canada too, says Muslim leader", which relates to a speech delivered to the 47th Munich Security Conference in February 2011 by British Prime Minister David Cameron. "Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism," the British leader said, "we have failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values. So when a white person holds objectionable views -- racism, for example -- we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices have come from someone who isn’t white, we’ve been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them."

Except in Canada and the USA, it has suddenly become OK for political leaders to say things like that. Back in October 2010, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first of Europe’s democratic leaders to have the stones [Errr... Ed.] to say that official multiculturalism had "failed totally."

In February 2011, while the Winnipeg educators were busy pandering, French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the government policy that encourages immigrant groups to foster distinct societies within France "is a failure.... If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France."

M le Président added, "We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him." And M Sarkozy hasn't changed his tune in the intervening year. Just this week, Walt noticed, he said, while campaigning for re-election, that France has too many foreigners which she can't accommodate. Pretty strong stuff for the son of a Hungarian Jew.

As for Dr. Kanwar, he says for years, some "non-whites like me" have felt the failings of official multiculturalism must be exposed. He must be encouraged, nowadays, to see that leaders of the majority culture are starting to get it, at long last. Well... in Europe, anyway.

"Bless you!" - not in Calilfornia!

Quick now. What do you say, without even thinking, when someone sneezes? "God bless you!" Right? No. Not right -- that is, not politically correct -- in Steve Cuckovich's classroom in Vacaville CA.

The teacher has banned his students at Will C. Woods High School from saying "bless you" -- even if God's name isn't invoked --when someone lets one rip. [You need to make it clear you're talking about a sneeze! Ed.] He has gone so far as to lower students' grades if they let a blessing slip past their lips.

And get this. Mr. Kookovich says it has nothing to do with the political correctness plaguing California even more than the rest of the once-Christian country. Here's how he explains himself.


OK, so he's a wingnut. California is full of them. There's a nation-wide network of ultra-PC teachers. [Are you talking about teachers unions? Ed.] And Mr. Cuckovich has since been forced to lift his policy. So who cares?

Well... let's not forget that, while banning "bless you" is certainly a bit extreme, "public" schools in North America and Europe have been forced to phase out religious -- read "Christian" -- artifacts and dress for years now.

France, having banned Christian symbols from its state schools over two centuries ago, outlawed Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols from in 2004. In 2009, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to remove all crucifixes from schools. (Italy appealed and won, so the crucifix remains, much to the dismay of the secular humanists.)

In 2002, New York prohibited Nativity scenes from its public school system, while an Ottawa school gained notoriety in 2007 for dropping the word "Christmas" from a rendition of "Silver Bells".

The campaign of the liberals and "progressive thinkers" -- exemplified by Teacher Kookovich -- continues. If this kind of thing outrages you, do what the parents of Vacaville did. Say something! Don't hold your tongue when people are being punished for expressing even a mild belief in the existence of God.

Islam, imams and the Canadian Charter of Rights

Walt is still waiting for Christian clerics to say something -- anything -- about the Toronto District School Board's decision to allow Muslim imams to lead Friday prayers in their schools. Bishops and pastors may be silent, but, inevitably, constitutional law experts are starting to cast a few pearls.

Donning the boxing gloves lawyers use to pick flyspecks out of pepper, the University of Toronto's Ed Morgan told parentcentral.ca cases under the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms have said ... you cannot accommodate the desire for prayers or religious instruction in a public school. Something after school, or on weekends, would be fine, he added. So it would seem the Charter operates only during business hours!

Another way around the problem is suggested by Shaikh Yusuf Badat, imam of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto. "I trained students from Lester Pearson Collegiate near our centre in Scarborough to do [run] their own Friday service.... They’ll write sermons about things like honesty and I provide the readings for them from the Qu’ran. There are no hard and fast rules about it having to be led by an imam, and if there are concerns about an outside person coming in, even a Grade 8 student can be trained to deliver a sermon," he said. Of course, he added, it would have to be a male. Of course.

Our last comment today comes from TDSB trustee Gerri Gershon, responding to questions about what "accommodation" is made for Christian students. "The system is set up to accommodate Christian students; Christmas and Easter are already holidays," she said. Ms Gershon is, errr, of the Hebrew faith.

UK school's "IslamSoc" closed

From the Noticeboard of the New Coalition Academy (formerly Brown's Comprehensive)

Mrs. May is very sorry, but she has had to close down the school's popular IslamSoc. A number of pupils attending the inspiring lectures given by visiting imams, such as Abu Hanzof and Mullah Lite, have been getting over-excited and may have been implicated in the attempts to blow up the girls' dance class on the grounds of "immodesty". You can't be too careful.

Source: Private Eye. It's just possible this may be a piece of satire.

Update on Islamization of Toronto schools

In "Tolerant Toronto", Walt told you how the Toronto District School Board, champion of keeping religion out of Ontario's public schools, was providing facilities for Muslim prayers at its Valley Park Middle School. A protest is to be mounted by Canadian Hindu Advocacy.

Now comes news that two other powerful advocacy groups are joining the anti-Muslim chorus. [Don't you mean "speaking out for separation of church and state"? Ed.] The usual suspects now advocating freedom from religion now include the Canadian Secular Alliance and the Jewish Defence League.

No surprises there, then. Oh... wait... The Jewish Defence League??!! The Canadian Secular Alliance, Walt can understand. The name says it all. But is the JDL really saying that the TDSB is going too far in inviting a religious leader to lead services on school property? Suppose the services were being organized for the Jewish kids and led by a rabbi? What would the JDL say then?

Let me guess at the answer. The Jews might well say that they have their own schools in which little Jewish kids can learn Hebrew and practise their religion. Because that's the case. Toronto's Jews are an older, more established community than Toronto's Muslims. And, yes, richer. They don't need the "accommodation" of the TDSB.

But let us not accuse the JDL of inconsistency. Those of the Hebrew persuasion have always been in the forefront of the fight to get religion -- meaning Christianity -- out of the schools and other public institutions in Canada and the USA. Look at the names of those who have led and supported the JDL, the ACLU/CCLA, and other secular and humanist organizations. You won't find many O'Rourkes or Husseins.

What Toronto is seeing is another skirmish in the jihad, the "holy war" against Christianity and Christians. The camel's nose is now in door of the public schoolroom. How long will we have to wait to see the demand for "equal accommodation" in the Catholic schools? And will the private schools follow? What would the JDL say about that?

Tolerant Toronto

Toronto -- the one in Canada -- has to be the most multicultural city on earth. Well, in North America at least. OK, maybe in Canada. Or at least Ontario. But it really is like the United Nations there, a great, big lovey-dovey rainbow nation. The civic anthem is "Kumbaya" and everyone holds hands in a great big circle when they sing it, after which they all exchange big warm hugs.

Except maybe when it comes to religion. The province of Ontario has two separate, publicly-funded school systems. One is Catholic, albeit in name only as there are no priests or religious teachers, and no instruction in the Faith. Why not? That would offend all the non-Catholic students whom the Catholic schools are obliged to accept because they receive the government's dollar.

The other school system is resolutely secular. No religious observance of any kind is allowed. Period. Fifty years ago students were compelled to recite the Lord's Prayer (the Protestant version of the Our Father) before the start of classes. No more. And they don't sing "O Canada" any more so they don't have to cope with the phrase "God keep our land..."

Yep, secular humanism is the order of the day in Ontario's public schools.Except for Valley Park Middle School in Toronto. For three years now Valley Park's administration has been allowing a local imam to use the school's facilities to hold Friday prayers for the school's Muslim students. This is supposed to help with the safety of students, who don't have to leave school to go to the mosque. Obviously this was a problem since many of the little Muslims failed to return to class after Friday services.

School officials said the prayer sessions are working well and they haven’t been approached about making changes. Until last week. Even though school's out for the summer, the Canadian Hindu Advocacy is now planning to protest outside Valley Way until the prayer sessions are stopped.

“This is alarming and unacceptable,” said Advocacy director Ron Banerjee. “We respect the separation of church and state. There’s not supposed to be any religious classes taking place in public schools. Our organization has received many complaints from Hindu students and parents in the Valley Park Middle School region.”

Christian students and parents are, needless to say, too politically correct to complain...or to say anything at all.

School bus! No farting allowed!

Walt never road the bus to school. I walked. Seven miles each way. In snow up to my waist...and I was shorter then! [Get on with it. Ed.] But I am told that those who rode the yellow school buses found it hilarious when one of their number belched or passed gas.

However, school authorities in Ohio felt two students from Canal Winchester middle school took the smelly shenanigans too far, temporarily revoking the kids' bus privileges for farting during a ride.

Seems the two boys had been warned by the bus driver previously, after “a similar display of synchronized farting”. Due to the laughter, jeering and overall ruckus that ensued from their latest fit of flatulence, the bus driver reported the incident to their principal, who handed the boys a one-day bus suspension.

James Nichols, father of one of the students, told The Columbus Dispatch he was stunned that the principal found his 13-year-old son’s behaviour obscene.

“He suggested my son should hold his gas on this hour-long bus ride, if in fact he has gas,” Mr. Nichols told the newspaper. But, added dad, “when it happens, it just happens. It’s not intentional.”

Mr. Nichols’ wife said that, while she admits her son is no angel, she was particularly upset, due to her own digestive health problems. The Dispatch quotes her as saying, “As a sufferer of gastrointestinal issues who was recently hospitalized for these issues, I take great offence to passing gas being cause for being cause for suspension and marked as an obscene gesture.”

Normal people speak up, government listens ... for once

Homosexuality is normal! That's what the huge and vocal gay lobby would have you believe. And that's what the Globe & Mail editors say in their lead editorial yesterday.

Don't you believe it! According to their own estimate, about 1 out of 10 adults is gay. That's 10 percent of the population. That means that 90% is straight. If 9 out of 10 people have one sexual orientation, and 1 out of 10 has another, which one is "normal"?!

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that homosexuality is common! Lots of people do it. Like murder, theft, and drunk driving. Lots of people do those things too. But that doesn't make them right!

Think about it. Next time a cop pulls you over and accuses you of DUI, are you going to say, "Don't worry about it, officer. Some of my best friends do it, and I've done it myself many times before."? Tell that to the judge and see what happens.

Nor should we teach our children that drunk driving or theft or murder are socially or morally acceptable. Clearly they are not. Neither is homosexuality.

I mention this because the government of Ontario has just bowed to public opinion (for once) and abandoned a plan to force its public schools to teach in sex ed classes beginning in Grade 3 that homosexuality, masturbation and other deviant behaviour is "normal". See Walt's column of March 4th.

It's tempting to hail this as a triumph for common sense, morality and the vox populi. But the opinion-makers, especially the liberal media (hello Globe & Mail! hello CBC!) are moaning about "intolerance", "a return to the dark ages", "homophobia" and of course "hate crime" and "human rights".

There's also the spectre of the gay lobby and Forces of Progress pushing and pushing until the "new enlightenment" creeps back into the curriculum. "After all," they'll tell you, "this is the 21st century. Anything goes!" Don't you believe it!

One last (?) thought... Please, normal people, be more vocal! According to the media it was pressure from "Christians and Muslims" and "the religious right" that forced the McGuinty government to back away from this diabolical plan to corrupt our children. In fact it was the individual, small but courageous acts of 1000s of ordinary but outraged citizens that made the Liberals sit up and take notice.

I say "courageous" because it takes real courage, these days, to speak up. Write a letter to the editor, send an e-mail, forward an article to your mailing list, write your MP or MPP, say anything that deviates from the secular liberal agenda, and you risk being labelled a "right-wing nut", a "religious extremist", or a "hater".

Just remember, the ordinary, normal people still think of our North American society as a Christian society. We still have certain principles in which we believe. We can still tell right from wrong. When something is wrong, we must not be afraid to say so!

Footnote: For more on the controversy and a sampling of opinions, check out "Muslims, Christians challenge Ontario’s more explicit sex ed".

From that article, here's the opinion of Murielle Boudreau, of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network. “I don’t understand how the business of sensual behaviour between consenting adults has anything to do with Grade 3,” she said. “Grade 6? Getting them ready for masturbation and vaginal lubrication? Give me a break. They’re going to traumatize these children!”

No Christian teachers in our schools?

Commenting on yesterday's post ("Don't you dare pray for your sick pupil") Andrew Zimmerman Jones opined that the separation of church and state has historically been good for America. I disagree. But let's not open up that can of worms today.

Rather, let me point out that the reason for the firing of Olive Jones (no relation to Andrew, I presume) had nothing to do with religion being taught or observed in the British state-run school.

Miss Jones was dismissed or suspended or whatever for merely offering to do a very Christian thing, i.e. pray for the sick. And it's not as if this was going to be done in the school or during classes. It was to have been a Christian prayer said to God by a Christian teacher in her own way and on her own time.

Following the council's logic (?) to its ultimate conclusion, no-one who gave any visible sign of being a follower of Christ would be allowed to teach in its schools. That can't be right!

"Don't you dare pray for your sick pupil!"

Do we (Americans, Canadians, British) live in Christian countries or not?! Here's another example of the absurdities we descend to to avoid offending those who do not believe. [We used to call them pagans or heathens. ed.]

The online edition of BBC News reports that an English schoolteacher who has the special assignment of tutoring children too sick to attend classes has been dismissed from her job. The reason? She was so bold as to offer to pray for one of her pupils!

Olive Jones, a teacher with 20 years of experience, found one girl too sick to study, and tried to comfort her by offering to pray for her health. When she learned that the family was not religious, she dropped the subject—but not in time to avoid a formal complaint that prompted her dismissal.

A spokesman for North Somerset Council said Miss Jones hadn't been dismissed, merely suspended. Said Miss Jones, "I am amazed that a country with such a strong Christian tradition has become a country where it is hard to speak about your faith."