Church vs Schools vs politics vs gay rights

[Gob]

Education Secretary Michael Gove is to examine claims the Catholic Education Service (CES) broke impartiality rules on the topic of gay marriage.

It emerged this week that the CES wrote to nearly 400 state-funded Roman Catholic schools inviting them to back a petition against gay civil marriage.

Schools and teachers are forbidden to promote one-sided political arguments.

The CES has denied breaking any laws, saying Catholic views on marriage are religious, not political.

On Thursday, the Welsh government said it was to investigate similar complaints against the CES.

"Schools have a responsibility under law to ensure children are insulated from political activity and campaigning in the classroom," said a Department for Education spokesperson.

"While faith schools, rightly, have the freedom to teach about sexual relations and marriage in the context of their own religion, that should not extend to political campaigning.

"Officials are looking into this as ministers are anxious to establish the full facts of this case and will be meeting representatives of the CES shortly."

Earlier this week, Pinknews.co.uk reported that students at St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls in Carshalton were "encouraged" to sign the anti-equality pledge by the school's headmistress.

"In our assembly for the whole sixth form you could feel people bristling as she explained parts of the letter and encouraged us to sign the petition," a pupil was quoted as saying.

"She said things about gay marriage and civil partnerships being unnatural. It was just a really outdated, misjudged and heavily biased presentation."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17883093

[Scooter]

There was a similar controversy here about students in Catholic schools (which are publicly funded) being "encouraged" to sign petitions to Parliament in favour of granting legal personhood to fetuses.

[dgs49]

I wonder if the "Progressives" complain when the Church teaches its students that capital punishment is morally unacceptable. Or when they tell them that restraints on social-safety-net spending are wrong.

Are those teachings also political?

[Scooter]

This has nothing to do with what is being taught in class, since you obviously missed that when reading it.

[dgs49]

Hmmm.

Isn't the whole point of the law ("Schools and teachers are forbidden to promote one-sided political arguments") to prevent teachers from indoctrinating students with one-sided political arguments? But students can't vote, can they?

Nothing to do with what's taught in class? Really?

If this is NOT about indoctrinating students in class, then what right does Gub'mint have to tell the Church what it can communicate to its employees (faculty and administrators)?

[Scooter]

Children were being "encouraged" (i.e. coerced) into signing a petition. That is what is being objected to, not anything they are being taught in class. Do you have anything to say about what the thread is actually about, rather than about what it is not?