Politics
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Tuesday November 18, 1997
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PrintMPS TO END RELIGIOUS SCHOOLING IN QUEBEC
TODAY'S HEADLINES
OTTAWA, Nov 18 (LSN) - MPs are expected to pass a constitutional amendment today that will amend a section of the constitution, dating to the time of Confederation, which guarantees the existence of Protestant and Catholic schools in Montreal and Quebec City. Most Reform MPs and some Liberals are expected to oppose the amendment in a free vote.
The results of the free vote will likely resemble the vote on last year's amendment to eliminate Pentecostal and Catholic school boards in Newfoundland. That amendment passed the Commons but was delayed by the Senate, then struck down by the Newfoundland Supreme Court. A joint Commons- Senate Committee has been set up to examine a new amendment for Newfoundland. Unfortunately Liberal Premier Brian Tobin's anti-Christian crusade was given a great boost by the governments victory in a September referendum calling for an end to all Christian involvement in the schools in Newfoundland schools.
The Catholic Civil Rights League has opposed the move, noting that the Quebec and Newfoundland amendments are part of a trend that will lead to the elimination of religious instruction across Canada. In final Commons debate Monday, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said concern for the rights of minorities such as French-speaking Protestants in Quebec "cannot be pushed to such a point that it would paralyse the evoution of a whole society." He said that special protection for only two religious groups is incompatible with the standards of modern society.
Back to TopRUSSIANS OPPOSE SEX-ED PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS
Catholic World News Service Nov 18
MOSCOW (CWN) A group of Russian psychologists, lawmakers, and political activists on Monday said they want to keep sex education programs out of schools, despite promises by proponents that they would curb AIDS and abortion.
The group told reporters at a news conference that the programs would only increase sexual activity among teens, not decrease it. "[Sex] education will lead not only to sexual promiscuity and sexual excesses, but it will also lead to a tremendous growth of psychological pathologies and spur drug addiction and alcoholism," children's psychiatrist Boris Drapkin said. While the country has seen an explosion of prostitution and pornography since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, the country continues to resist outside attempts to indoctrinate children in Western ideas of sexuality. "The introduction into our mentality of ... American views is a violation of the ecology of the soul -- and the dangers of mindless intervention into ecology are well known," psychiatrist Yuri Shevchenko said.
An experimental sex education program, sponsored by the United Nations, was launched last year, but quickly suspended following an uproar of protests over its explicit texts. The course, covering a wide range of topics, was taught to children aged 12-14 in 16 schools throughout Russia. Text books offered explicit sexual information, stressed health risks of teen-age pregnancies and abortion, called for tolerance for sexual minorities including homosexuals, and advocated the use of contraceptives.
ABC RENEWS "NOTHING SACRED" DESPITE POOR RATINGS
Catholic World News Service Nov 18
NEW YORK (CWN) The ABC television network announced on Monday that it will order a full season of the drama "Nothing Sacred" despite its poor ratings and continuing protests from Catholics who dispute the depiction of priests.
The Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights said that 27 advertisers have agreed not to sponsor the show after tens of thousands of Catholic viewers promised to boycott any sponsors. The show has also suffered low ratings during its run, ranking 94th in the Nielsen ratings system. Only four other shows on ABC, NBC, or CBS ranked lower and those have all been canceled.
Meanwhile, 117 priests and nuns signed their names to an ad on Monday in the trade magazine Advertising Age supporting the show. If you want your religion to be fantasy, then you can go watch "Touched By an Angel," said Sister Maureen Fiedler of Hyattsville, Maryland, head of the organization Catholics Speak Out. If you want your religion to deal with the nitty-gritty issues of life, then you should watch "Nothing Sacred." Four bishops were among those who signed onto the ad: Bishop Raymond Lucker of New Ulm, Minnesota, Auxiliary Bishop P. Francis Murphy of Baltimore, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, and Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza of New Haven, Connecticut.
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