Send an urgent message to Canadian legislators and courts telling them to uphold parental rights.
(LifeSiteNews) — Eight schools in the French-speaking part of Belgium, Wallonia, were attacked by arsonists or otherwise vandalized in recent days. In six cases, the attacks were linked back by the authorities to protests against the parliamentary approval, on September 7, of a decree making two-hour sessions on “sexuality, relationships and emotions” compulsory during the sixth grade of primary school and the fourth grade of secondary school, due to tags including the word “Evras” found on the buildings, appearing to “sign” the attacks.
The sex education modules are to be based on the “Evras” guide (Education à la Vie Relationnelle, Affective et Sexuelle) which has already been used on a voluntary basis in classes for pupils in age groups 5-8, 9-11, 12-14, and 15-18-plus since 2012. It was not widespread however, because of a lack of funding; the recent decree has allotted an annual budget of almost 5 million euros for organizing the sex education sessions throughout Wallonia.
Five kindergartens and a primary school were targeted by arson attempts in Charleroi, near the French border south of Brussels, and two schools were vandalized in Liège, in the northernmost part of Wallonia.
The attacks were called “barbaric” by the mayor of Charleroi, Paul Magnette, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “To attack our schools is to attack our children. These barbaric acts are all the more criminal because they damage the future of students: their education, their growth, their emancipation.”
Belgian federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he was “shocked” by the attacks: “A school should be a safe place for all children, and the right to sex education cannot be questioned. It leads to children being resilient and it is essential in sexual health for all,” he stated in a video message.
On September 17, several thousand people demonstrated in Brussels in response to calls from several parents’ organizations including groups of Muslims from immigrant backgrounds and what the mainstream press called “conspiracy theory activists.” Catholic political group Civitas took part in the demonstration and its president, Alain Escada, was one of its keynote speakers against “hypersexualism.”
This is not the first time that Civitas has associated with “conservative” Islamic groups against “gay marriage,” gender ideology, and the use of school curricula to promote immorality in schools.
While associating with non-Catholics to safeguard human life and natural law is certainly positive and commendable in a general way, it does require prudence and caution, especially when considering that a number of Islamic groups in Europe are linked to the radical Muslim Brotherhood which uses “taqiya” tactics: action by stealth and lying to make Western societies “sharia-compatible.”
Several Islamic groups produced statements condemning Evras after the September 7 decree, but they did not call for a demonstration in Brussels with right-wing groups they consider “islamophobic”; however, many Muslims did join the demonstration in the name of “protecting the innocence of our children,” including many veiled women.
The mainstream press has condemned the mobilization against Evras, firstly because of the violent attacks against schools which obviously place those who want to defend traditional morality in the worst possible light, but also because, it says, the anti-Evras campaign is based on “lies” and “fake news.” Campaigners have said that under the decree, children as young as five would be taught to masturbate, access pornography, and learn all the particulars of sexual activity, and that transgenderism would be promoted.
The minister of education for Wallonia, Caroline Désir, called these claims “misinformation” aimed at “scaring parents” and “fueling suspicion.” “Obviously, we’re not going to encourage hyper-sexualization among young people, or promote sexual orientation or gender identity. I’ve read that we’re going to ‘teach children to masturbate.’ It’s completely unacceptable to frighten parents on this subject,” the socialist politician told the public radio station La Première.
Caroline Désir, who was one of the driving forces behind making Evras compulsory, has repeatedly explained that the program is merely an event organized by schools with “approved external contractors” whose role is “to reassure students regarding questions that arise with puberty” and to “protect them from potentially dangerous or problematic situations” such as “sexism, sexual violence and gender stereotypes.” The external contractors include Planned Parenthood.
The official story is the following: Evras guidelines will be used to answer diverse groups according to their stage of development and the questions they are bringing forward.
It is also being stressed that the program will not be used for younger primary schoolchildren, but will target pupils aged 11- or 12-years-old in sixth grade of primary school, and 15- or 16-years-old in the fourth level of secondary school.
On this count, the public authorities have an easy answer for worried parents as it is clear that there will be no obligation for “5-” or “9-year-olds” to follow the controversial Evras guidelines.
On the other hand, a closer look at the guidelines does show that parents would have every reason to be angry if younger kids were exposed to its vision of human sexuality, and this can be the case in schools using Evras on a voluntary basis. Also, guidelines for children aged nine and up contain many recommendations to which parents can and should object, and these are part and parcel of the Evras program for 11–12-year-olds and 15–16-year-olds.
The first problem is that telling children about love, responsibility, puberty, and the facts of life is first and foremost their parents right and obligation. Secondly, parents can have recourse to third parties such as trusted teachers or associations to help them with this task, but it is their business to choose them – or not. Thirdly, sex education, as promoted in liberal Western societies, is always at odds with believing parents’ vision of morality and with the truth of God’s plan for man and woman and their potential for giving life.
A careful look at the Evras guidance itself, which is available to the public on the internet in a 300-page file, will show that together with some reasonable elements about the necessity for children to know how to say “no” against inappropriate touching, every age group is expected to be exposed to unacceptable information and advice.
For instance, 5- to 8-year-olds – who are not concerned by the September 7 decree – are expected to learn about “same-sex parents,” discovering “pleasurable feelings” and “erogenous zones,” “recognizing that different types of sexual orientation can exist,” and the like.
For 9- to 11-year-olds, “gender auto-determination” is presented as a right, and “consolidating one’s own gender identity” a skill to be learned. It is also at that age that they are taught about the “LGBT+” catalogue and that they are encouraged to question our “heteronormative society.” The same age group can be told what “masturbation” and “orgasm” mean.
Twelve to 14-year-olds must learn that sexual activity is more than just physical and requires “consent.” At this point, the program stresses that “masturbation is normal,” and if necessary this should be taught to the 9-11 age group. There is also a chapter on “the advantages and disadvantages of pornography.”
These are just a few examples of a program which claims to help young people avoid violence or sexual aggression, and be critical of things such as pornography, “honor crimes,” and the like, but at the same time focuses strongly on gender ideology and, for the older age groups, speaks extensively about contraception and abortion “rights.”
It is unfortunate that the legitimate rejection of such unacceptable matter should have been discredited by arson and other violent attacks against school buildings. These have in fact helped the program along and allowed the authorities to misrepresent the details of Evras which can, and probably will, be used to preach the modern anti-morals of sexual liberation.