Government Versus the Home

Who is responsible for the care of one’s children—the home or the government? In Canada, the answer seems to be that the government has precedence over the parents. No, this does not refer to a child being endangered physically by his parents or suffering abuse of any kind. The government of Alberta, Canada, as of February 28th, was considering “Bill 2,” which would make it illegal (are you ready?) for parents homeschooling their children to condemn homosexuality.

To be specific, this legislation would require that all schools “reflect the diverse nature and heritage of society in Alberta, promote understanding and respect for others and honour and respect the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Human Rights Act.” This is LIBERAL-SPEAK for finding a way to target, intimidate, and punish those who do not agree with the government’s policy toward homosexuality.

Donna McColl, the assistant director of communications for the Alberta Education Minister, said: “Whatever the nature of schooling—homeschool, private school, Catholic school—we do not tolerate disrespect for differences. You can affirm the family’s ideology in your family life, you just can’t do it as part of your educational study and instruction.”

Apparently, the Education Minister realizes that people have private schools, religious schools, and home schools to get away from government schools; so the empire has decided to strike back by making it illegal to tell the truth about homosexuality in any school in the province. McColl further explained that homeschooling families can teach Biblical lessons on homosexuality in their homes, “as long as it’s not part of their academic program of studies and instructional materials.” One wonders how long it will be before a government bureaucrat is assigned to each home to make sure that families do not step over the line.

Most religious and home schools teach the Bible as part of the curriculum. What are they supposed to do when they have a lesson on Sodom (Gen. 19)? What do they do if they are studying some of the laws under the Mosaic system (Lev. 20:13)? Must they omit Romans 1 as being unfit for Canadians living in Alberta? And what of the passages in 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 2 Peter 2:6-9, and Jude 7? No one would ever be allowed to define the Greek word porneia, since it includes not only fornication and adultery, but also homosexuality.

And if the government should be successful with this bill, what will be the next thing that would be outlawed? Actually, no one needs to wonder; Dante’s The Divine Comedy would be banned—not only in grade school and high school classes, but even for college students. The reason is that the Medieval masterpiece is “racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic,” which brings up another point about the Bible. When Mel Gibson made The Passion of the Christ, both he and the movie were accused of being anti-Semitic. How long will it take before anyone anywhere teaching a Bible class on the life of Jesus is accused of being insensitive and anti-Jewish? How long will it take before someone notices that, when Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6), He made an exclusive comment, which offends Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews?

It may well be that the government of Alberta will back away from putting Christian parents in jail for teaching their children the truth concerning a legitimate Bible topic. The government claims to be worried that its citizens will not tolerate differences. Uh—do they not realize that in contemplating the passing of this law, they are refusing to tolerate the differences in their “Christian” population? This is the equivalent of saying, “You will conform to this law about being tolerant towards others—or else!” Of course, in doing so, the state is setting a policy that tolerates no differences from its policy against intolerance. If they think about it long enough, maybe the irony of the matter will strike them.

If parents are educating their children to be law-abiding citizens who do not harm others, the state has no right to criminalize Christian values.