Posted on 09/11/2022 3:42:59 PM PDT by Ennis85
Have you heard the story about Enoch Burke? An innocent schoolteacher, fighting the good fight against the woke liberal agenda. Jailed for his refusal to kowtow to the demands of the left-wing mob. Jailed for his religious beliefs. You can’t say anything any more, can you? It won’t just be cancellation on Twitter, now you’ll be thrown in Mountjoy for daring to say sex is real. That’s not the real story, of course. Burke, an evangelical Christian, was suspended from Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath last month arising from his opposition to addressing a transgender child in the school by their preferred name, and to using the pronoun they rather than he.
The school claims that, during a service to mark its 260th anniversary last June, Burke interrupted proceedings to say he could not agree with transgenderism as it went against the Church of Ireland’s teachings. His outburst prompted a number of students to walk out. It is alleged that, after the meal, he once again asked the school’s principal to withdraw her request that the student be addressed by their preferred name and pronoun.
Subsequently, a decision was made that Burke be placed on paid suspension until a disciplinary hearing was held. Burke refused to comply with his suspension — the school claimed that Burke continued to turn up on the premises according to his former teaching timetable — and the school had “no option” but to bring a case before the High Court. He was jailed last Monday for defying court orders, and last Wednesday the school was successful in renewing interlocutory orders. Burke, representing himself, said that transgenderism was contrary to scripture (so is wearing clothes made of both linen and wool, but let’s not get lost in semantics), telling the court that he would rather remain in prison for “every hour of every day for the next 100 years” than compromise his beliefs. “I can be a Christian in Mountjoy prison,” he said, “or I can be a pagan acceptor of transgenderism outside it.”
Burke’s suspension was as a result of his conduct, said Rosemary Mallon, counsel for the school’s board of management, not his religious beliefs. Of course, that’s not the way the story has been told in the days since. It has been seized upon by right-wing media and pundits all over the world, with Burke held up as some kind of anti-establishment folk hero fighting against the woke agenda. The blatant reshaping of this incident by some commentators to suit an overarching political ideology that is deeply conservative and regressive has been astonishing to watch in action. You might be forgiven for asking how difficult it is to call someone by their preferred name (wait until they meet a William who wants to go by Liam — minds will be blown) or even thinking that if your religious beliefs interfere with your ability to carry out your duties in an appropriate manner, maybe it’s time to consider your career choices. But in the midst of this so-called culture war, seeking to divide people over questions of identity, we would all do well to remember that there is a child at the centre of this. A child who is the real victim here. This child is not the one turning their life into a political point, nor their parents, nor their teachers at school. Students deserve to be respected in school. Most teachers I know work tirelessly to protect their students, trying to make the classroom a safe space for all, regardless of their race, religion, sexual or gender identification. That is what Wilson’s Hospital School tried to do too, saying its actions were about “focusing on the needs and welfare of its student” in line with the 2000 Equal Status Act of non-discrimination.
In an email to the chairwoman of the board of management, Burke wrote that it was “wrong” that this “belief system” was being “forced upon students” and “an abuse of children and their constitutional rights”. Yet surely fostering an ethos of inclusivity in the school would only teach the other students about the importance of accepting their peers, and that showing kindness and respect to one another was not just important, but essential. I don’t know about you, but I think those are valuable life lessons to learn at any age.
later
Predatory groomers have institutionalized child abuse and it looks like they will get away with it.
Climate Change. Follow the science. Covid. Follow the science. Gender. Don’t follow the science. Tge ‘Inclusiveness’ of the left nazis has no room for conservatives. Just as the nazi inclusiveness of the Volk had no room for Jews
Jordan Peterson’s protest continues to gain momentum.
Children should not be encouraged to damage their body to adapt another gender where they don’t have consent. I believe the groomers should go to jail for the equivalent of statutory rape. Similar to solicitation and pedophile media which both do not require the action.
I saw that interview. He is definitely not woke.
A child shouldn’t have to accept truth and reality at school.
Why not?
kids are now identifying with animals.
Some clever custodian put litter boxes in the bathrooms.
He’s definitely somebody for our times. Not a prophet, but a truthsayer.
That sort of answers my question. If a child is, let’s say, not right in the head, isn’t it better for the child to keep quiet about that in a room full of children, knowing how cruel children can be when the teacher is not looking? Besides, talking about it reinforces a negative concept.
Children go to school to learn academic subjects. “Who they really are” is not the business of the school or other children, and certainly not the teacher. The teacher is unlikely to have the professional knowledge or ability to deal with oddities, nor, these days, the moral character to deal with them appropriately.
and my child shouldn’t be forced to attend school with someone NUTS! who thinks they are a tree, or an animal, or a different sex!
“Right wing media’’?
Is this chick tripping or what?
‘’Right wing media’’?
Yeah, right. CBS,CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC.
All ‘’right wing media’’
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