Thread by @According2Luke

1/n For those that wonder why I advocate for religious options in a Public system;
First, personally I don't think religious faith traditions should be taught to children in schools. I think it's (intentionally) confusing separating religious allegory from empirical truths.
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2/n >There is an inherent hypocrisy & incompatibility in teaching what constitutes meaningful evidence, critical thinking & science alongside faith traditions we know are undemonstrated or almost certainly not true, as truths.
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3/n The elephant in the room is of course the incompatibility of core religious tenets in relation to the LGBTQ2S community, patriarchy, women as chattel, purity, the reality of sex for pleasure, contraception, female choice and more.
Human Rights & reality are non-negotiable >

4/n And lastly, state schools leading worship of gods & learning faith traditions as truths is counter to any reasonably interpretation of the separation of church & state.
But (& there is a but), I recognise that this isn't *my* school system. >>

5/n There are clearly lots of Albertans that want faith options as part of their children's education. While I'm convinced in the fact that all fully publicly funded schools should be PUBLIC, I do think faith options where enough people want it & district deems practical is OK >>

6/n > So if you don't think religion (outside of comparative religion) shouldn't be in publicly funded schools, I agree.
But if you want change, all or nothing won't get you there.
I think the existence of the separate school system is the biggest issue right now. And... >>

7/n > allowing Catholic options in Public schools where sufficient local demands exists, then I'm OK with that as a compromise for having one system.
For those that think we fund private religious schools too much, if you want to reduce or eliminate funding to private schools >>

8/n >> then we need to provide reasonable alternative for those people.
So for those that want their own Catholic system, a compromise to Catholic options in communities.
Those that want their private religious school funded, a compromise to offer alternatives in Public schools >

9/n and for those that think the state should pay less for religion, or that there shouldn't be publicly funded religious schools, a compromise.
Less money spent (or wasted in inefficiencies) on religion in education.
Everybody compromises. Leading to...
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10/ > More choice for everybody. More fairness & equality.
More teachers, EAs & supports. Better education, and more bang per education dollar.
But his requires EVERYBODY compromising together :)
/fin