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Commentary

“Following This Law Is Not Optional . . .”

Tue, November 20, 2018   |   Author: Rod Taylor   |   Volume 25    Issue 47 | Share: Gab | Facebook | Twitter   

Alberta is at it again. Politicians pursuing a radical LGBTQ agenda just cannot leave others alone. Never content with the freedom to do their own thing, it seems they cannot resist the temptation to force others to get on their “gender agenda” bandwagon, to mouth the slogans of LGBTQ activists and to proclaim allegiance to the disingenuous platitudes of “inclusion” while accepting scientifically inaccurate portrayals of human biology and sociology.

Alberta’s NDP Education Minister David Eggen has doubled-down on his attempted hostile takeover of Alberta’s private schools, threatening to pull their funding if they fail to comply with and post his preferred policies on the establishment of GSAs in every school. He’s making sure that parents are kept in the dark regarding the involvement of their children in GSAs or other activities having to do with sexuality.

Mr. Eggen was recently quoted as saying, “Following this law is not optional.” By “this law”, he’s referring to Alberta’s Bill 24 passed by the Alberta Legislature about a year ago. If he feels so strongly about following the law, he should really have checked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which precedes and supersedes Alberta’s Bill 24. Because Alberta’s flawed bill actually violates the Charter which—with all its faults—is still the law of the land. It’s been twisted by crafty politicians and media activists but it explicitly protects (in Section 2) the freedoms of “conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other means of communication.” In that statement it implicitly recognizes the right of parents (not the state) to raise their children and educate them according to their beliefs and consciences.

The Charter also acknowledges the Supremacy of God, whose sovereign declarations regarding sexuality and moral standards are fairly well known, even in our deteriorating culture. When Mr. Eggen says “Following this law is not optional,” he’s really saying that his opinions are more important than God’s clear directives. This is the height of arrogance. To demand that others obey his edicts and ignore God’s is an attempt at despotism—the kind that is pathetically common in small-minded autocrats.

Further, his insistence that “this law” cannot be broken sets two levels of laws. Those that can be broken and those that can’t. It would be a challenge to maintain an orderly society where some laws can be broken but some cannot. Who gets to determine which laws are breakable laws and which laws fall into “this law” category?

On a purely financial basis, the argument that private schools do not deserve taxpayer dollars is wrong on a couple of levels. First, parents of private school students are also taxpayers and their hard-earned dollars are being used every day to bankroll the public school system, which most Alberta students attend. Public schools get 100% of their funding from taxpayers, including the taxpaying parents of children in private schools. In the case of private schools (which, according to the Education Minister, receive up to 70% of their funding from the public purse), most parents sending their children to them are making further sacrificial payments to cover the remaining 30% or more. (PDF) They do so uncomplainingly because they want the BEST education for their children, something they feel some public schools do not provide.

When it comes to test scores, students graduating from private schools or from home-schooling programs often score higher than their peers in the public schools. Even more importantly, private schools in Alberta rank at or above average when it comes to student safety, caring, fairness and respect, according to Alberta’s Annual Education Results Report (AERR), based on polling results from parents, teachers and students. If the goal is a “safe and caring environment,” why go after schools already achieving this? If Mr. Eggen would spend as much time and effort trying to improve the learning environment and outcomes in public schools as he now does in chasing phantom “bullies” in the private schools, he could perhaps earn a better grade as Education Minister.

In his recent attack on private schools that refuse to compromise their convictions regarding parental rights and sexual morality, Mr. Eggen said this, “If you’re taking public money, you follow the law.” Since Mr. Eggen, as a highly-paid cabinet minister, is also “taking public money,” it would be nice if he would hold himself to the same standard. Forcing parents to violate their consciences is against the law. It’s against the Charter and it’s against the law of God. At Nuremburg, Allied judges ruled that citizens have not only a right but a duty to resist the unjust demands of a corrupt government. Two of our Lord’s closest disciples, Peter and John, said that “We ought to obey God rather than man.” That’s still the only path for Christians. May God give us wisdom to raise our children in these troubled times.

Lawyer John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is challenging Bill 24 in Court. He and Parents for Choice in Education are working hard to defend your freedoms. Please send them a note of thanks and encouragement.

CHP Canada continues to stand firmly for the rights of parents to raise their children according to godly principles. Join CHP Canada today. Take a stand!



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