U.S. Catholic Bishops Release “Faithful Citizenship” Guide

Current Events,

This week, Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock cited the “Faithful Citizenship” document released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a homily posted on The Arkansas Catholic‘s website.

In his homily, Bishop Taylor said,

“To help us sort out what to do, the bishops of the United States issue — or re-issue — for every election cycle a ‘Faithful Citizenship’ document to help us make a prudential judgment regarding how best to ‘Give to God what is God’s’ in the difficult and confusing choices before us. This is not just a matter of opposing evil; it also requires that we work actively to do good.”

The Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the document in two forms: A short summary and a lengthier Call to Political Responsibility.

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Public School Teachers Told to Stop Saying “Boys and Girls”

Transgender, ,

Teachers in one Nebraska school district have been instructed to stop using gender-specific language when addressing students.

According to National Review Online, teachers at the Lincoln Public Schools have been told that phrases like “boys and girls” are not “gender-inclusive” and should not be used in the classroom.

So what, you might ask, are teachers to call their students? The training handout says, “Create classroom names and then ask all of the ‘purple penguins’ to meet on the rug.”

Instead of lining students up as “boys and girls,” the training material advises teachers to separate students according to their likes or interests, such as “skateboards” or “listening.” It even suggests separating students according to whether or not they are athletes–as if that isn’t going to make the classroom a charged environment. Does anyone really think labeling students according to their athletic prowess is somehow better than calling them a “boy” or a “girl”?

What is most striking about the material, however, is its instruction that teachers literally should be intolerant of opposing views. The handout reads,

“Be intolerant of openly hostile attitudes or references towards others EVERY TIME you hear or observe them, but also use these as teachable moments. Take the opportunity to push the individual on their statements about gender. Being punitive may stop the behavior, at least in your presence. Being instructive may stop it entirely.”

But just a paragraph or two later, the material states,

“Help students recognize ‘all or nothing’ language by helping them understand the difference between patterns and rules. Teach them phrases like ‘That may be true for some people, but not all people,’ or ‘frequently, but not always,’ or ‘more common and less common.’ Avoid using ‘normal’ to define any behaviors.”

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Satanists, Atheists Passing Out Material in Fla. Public Schools

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The Satanic Temple and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have each announced plans to pass out their “literature” in public schools in Florida.

The New York-based Satanic Temple will distribute “pamphlets related to the [Satanic] Temple’s tenets, philosophy and practice of Satanism, as well as information about the legal right to practice Satanism in school.”

While the Satanic Temple says it has consulted with the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, FFRF has released a statement putting daylight between itself and the Satanic Temple, saying,

“FFRF does not believe that satanists or Christians or even atheists should be distributing literature to public school students…FFRF does not endorse the New York based Satanic Temple’s literature any more than we would endorse the bible or think it should be given to students. However, Orange County Public Schools cannot legally prevent the temple from distributing its literature.”

So here is a question: If the Freedom From Religion Foundation does not believe “even atheists” should be distributing material to public school students, why are they handing out anti-Christian literature in Florida schools? (more…)

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