Tolerance or brainwashing?

Parents who have children in the BC school system have known for years that our Ministry of Education is pursuing a morally dangerous agenda. Now others are taking notice. Here is an interesting column from the Calgary Herald about how two homosexuals, through complaints to the BC Human Rights Tribunal, forced their agenda onto the BC school system in an unprecedented manner. To read the column in its entirety, click on the link provided - it's surprising to find such an article from a leading newspaper.

The couple, who are known homosexual activists, went to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to allege systemic discrimination against homosexuals by the B.C. Ministry of Education. A few years later, they filed another complaint. At first, the Ministry of Education denied the allegations but, as time dragged on, it decided to capitulate. The Ministry gave in -- without any defence or discussion, or even an impartial consideration of the allegations. In fact, it rolled over and played dead so fast it makes the Second World War Italian army look like hardcore U.S. Marines.

In giving up, the B.C. government made a legal agreement that gave the complainants unprecedented control and influence over the province's curriculum in exchange for dropping the human rights charges.

The complainants have since developed resources on alternative sexuality that teachers can use to integrate the topic into any subject from grades K to 12, as well as a Grade 12 course that covers issues like sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Education Ministry now proudly proclaims that it is a world leader in diversity training, but not all parents and teachers are pleased. There's controversy over the content and whether it should be an elective or a required course, and how appropriate the resources will be for young children and whether the whole scheme usurps the parent's role as the primary educator of their children. Just this week, it was announced that these events had spurred an initiative to "Take Back our Schools" by parents and organizations who believe the government has overstepped its limits.

The author makes an interesting point comparing this forced agenda to Communism where she makes this conclusion:

So is this curriculum geared toward changing thinking, beliefs and even moral values so that everyone thinks the same?

If so, how will exams be marked? What if educated kids still don't affirm sexual diversity -- do they fail?

The Soviet Union is a prime example of what happens when society believes that education should be used to create uniform acceptance of a particular philosophy. Any who dared to disagree with the philosophy of Communism, as taught in Soviet classrooms, was quickly classified as being mentally ill -- or worse.

There's nothing wrong with talking about diversity and tolerance.

But there is something wrong with forcing the ideals of two individuals (from a known group and with a known agenda) onto children and demanding conformity. After all, true tolerance is accepting opinions that are different -- not demanding that all opinions be the same.