Good Christ...
Jan. 3rd, 2005 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonlockhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-twodads2jan02,0,3188265.story?coll=la-home-local
In a clash that pits Catholic teachings against shifting values of American society, a group of parishioners and parents has accused Orange County church leaders of defying Pope John Paul II by allowing a gay couple to enroll their two boys in a diocese school.
Eighteen people signed a letter last month demanding that St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa accept only families that sign a pledge to live by Catholic doctrine — a move that effectively would kick the boys out of school. The church regards homosexual acts as sinful, and in 2003 the pontiff condemned marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
[...]
But Father Martin Benzoni, who oversees the 550-student elementary and middle school, last week rejected the group's demands. He released a new policy stating that a child's education comes first and that a family's background "does not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school."
[...]
But several other conservative and liberal Catholic leaders backed the school, saying that regardless of the church's views on homosexuality and same-sex unions, it would be wrong to punish the children.
"To single out these kids because of their gay parents would be invidious," said William Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League. "You cannot burden the innocent."
[...]
But Father Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of schools run by the Diocese of Orange, rejected the idea of a parental covenant. If the school barred gay parents from enrolling their children, they would also have to ban children of parents who violate other church teachings, including those who are divorced, use birth control or weren't married in the church, he said.
[...]
It's unclear how many parents at the school are aware of the debate or how many object to the boys' enrollment. But one mother said she and several other parents support the school's decision.
"It's a shame that a minority of loonies chooses to hate instead of love," said Katie Flores, whose daughter is a classmate of the boys. "Let he [who is] without sin cast the first stone."
In a clash that pits Catholic teachings against shifting values of American society, a group of parishioners and parents has accused Orange County church leaders of defying Pope John Paul II by allowing a gay couple to enroll their two boys in a diocese school.
Eighteen people signed a letter last month demanding that St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa accept only families that sign a pledge to live by Catholic doctrine — a move that effectively would kick the boys out of school. The church regards homosexual acts as sinful, and in 2003 the pontiff condemned marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
[...]
But Father Martin Benzoni, who oversees the 550-student elementary and middle school, last week rejected the group's demands. He released a new policy stating that a child's education comes first and that a family's background "does not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school."
[...]
But several other conservative and liberal Catholic leaders backed the school, saying that regardless of the church's views on homosexuality and same-sex unions, it would be wrong to punish the children.
"To single out these kids because of their gay parents would be invidious," said William Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League. "You cannot burden the innocent."
[...]
But Father Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of schools run by the Diocese of Orange, rejected the idea of a parental covenant. If the school barred gay parents from enrolling their children, they would also have to ban children of parents who violate other church teachings, including those who are divorced, use birth control or weren't married in the church, he said.
[...]
It's unclear how many parents at the school are aware of the debate or how many object to the boys' enrollment. But one mother said she and several other parents support the school's decision.
"It's a shame that a minority of loonies chooses to hate instead of love," said Katie Flores, whose daughter is a classmate of the boys. "Let he [who is] without sin cast the first stone."
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 02:27 pm (UTC)I agree to an extent - parents who live vicariously through their children probably aren't very good parents. Parents need to have a sense of their children's independence and value as separate from the parents' desires on behalf of their kids.
On the other hand, I don't believe in the existence of an apolitical education. Public school educations are certainly politically influential and influenced by politics. Religious educations are certainly politically charged. Even the choice of home schooling is a political choice and narrows the politics to those of the parents. Mathematics is perhaps the least political topic on the planet, but once you move from mathematical theory into applied math - physics, or statistics - no holds are barred in the struggle to define the nature of the physical universe according to this political or religious doctrine or that one.
I also don't see that children outside of the home - or even inside of it, if there are other children in the house - can ever be sheltered from harrassment or ridicule, nor is it necessarily a parent's responsibility to prevent it. Nasty teasing seems to be something children do, and the source/topic of the ridicule matters only slightly. Whether it's height, weight, color, mental acuity, crushes, scholastic failures or successes, athletic ability, it doesn't matter much - kids are regularly nasty to other kids; the fact that these kids have gay parents is just one more button to be pushed. I just don't see that public school would be that much safer for them than Catholic school; parents need to support their kids' psyches no matter where they school.
You could make the case that public school has no inherent institutional bias against gay parents comparable to the Catholic Church's institutional bias, but I don't think that's going to matter to the kids - what matters will be how their immediate teachers and staff handle the matter. There are gay-friendly Catholics and bigoted Catholics, and there are gay-friendly public school staff and bigoted staff. Bigots are everywhere - it's a matter of choice where and how one confronts them, but not a matter of "if", I suspect, for these parents. It sounds like they're getting a lot of support from the Catholic community they've chosen, so it sounds like a good choice to me.
And as always, YMMV. Though I hope to have presented my views effectively and forthrightly, this is a friendly discussion, and I'm curious if I'm making sense to you as well.