Miranda Devine: Catholic schools sell out scripture for sex ed
The new woke agenda of Parramatta’s Catholic schools may have the blessing of the Bishop, but parents are rightfully outraged at the selling out of their identity to the new religion of the left, writes Miranda Devine.
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If McDonald’s stopped selling hamburgers and started dishing up sushi instead, it would no longer be McDonald’s. People who once frequented the Golden Arches for a Big Mac and fries would stop going.
It’s the same with Catholic schools. Parents send their children to Catholic schools to receive a Catholic education.
If they wanted woke secular indoctrination in LGBT studies, gender fluidity, identity politics and atheism, they would enrol their children in the local government “Safe School” and save money on fees.
This is obvious. But for some inexplicable reason, Catholic schools in Parramatta have chosen to go down the woke path to oblivion, with a new religious studies curriculum that is just a Trojan horse to smuggle in a leftist political agenda.
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Instead of being taught to know God in their religion classes, or even how to pray, or live their faith, Parramatta’s Catholic students will be taught “to recognise sexuality as an exploration in forming personal identity”.
They will explore how “social media [is used to] construct sexual identity”. They will “wonder [about] the authenticity of faith in Postmodern culture”
Other topics in the new draft curriculum include atheism, Indigenous spirituality, “contemporary humanism” and “mobilised popularism”, whatever that is.
This dumbed-down, sex-obsessed sociology mumbo jumbo, disguised in the language of the church, is supposed to make religion classes more “relevant” to children’s lives and, insultingly, to rescue the Catholic “brand”, both reason enough to reject the curriculum.
It advances an identity politics agenda, which is poisonous to faith and reason, for the sole purpose of pandering to the Zeitgeist.
“We have read ‘the signs of the times’ and responded with this draft curriculum, a bold new approach to religious education”, writes Greg Whitby, the clueless executive director of Parramatta Catholic education, in a forward to the curriculum. Instead of Catholic teaching, students will be offered a smorgasbord of perspectives and told to make up their own minds.
Whitby admitted to The Daily Telegraph’s Christopher Harris that devout Catholics would not be pleased with the changes: “There will be critics of this approach, just as the older generation critiques the younger generation, but we believe we can defend the proposition … gender identity is a big issue.”
In other words, get with the times, faithful Catholics.
Whitby has made up his mind. This dross will be foisted on your unsuspecting children next year, whether you like it or not.
The curriculum has the blessing of the woke local bishop Vincent Long, but if he doesn’t want Catholic families voting with their feet, he ought to listen to the faithful in his parishes, such as Father John Rizzo.
“As a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Parramatta, I kindly remind the Catholic Education Office of Parramatta of their crucial responsibility in teaching their students of the importance of the 10 Commandments [and] the Catholic teachings of morality,” Fr Rizzo writes.
“Catholic faithful are sick and tired of politically correct agendas being thrown at the innocence of their children.”
Amen.