Religious Schooling
This is why you should never send your children to a religious school without thoroughly grilling them about their attitudes toward diversity:
A California court has upheld a Lutheran school's right to expel two students for suspected lesbianism.
Like it or not, the court is correct here. A Lutheran school is a private, religious organization, and therefore has the right to discriminate based on its religious beliefs. If the school were a public school (or accepting vouchers to provide public education) it would be a very different story, but the school grows out of the church, not vice versa, and so the church's freedom of religion is paramount.
But at the same time, imagine the trauma these two young women have been put through. They were grilled about their sexuality in school; outed to their parents, teachers, and classmates; and then forcibly removed from what -- in the teen years -- is typically the most comfortable and supporting environment a kid has, their school. These kids are going to need serious therapy to overcome what this school, in the name of "good morals," has done to them.
Please remember that the whole reason for a religious school to exist is to raise children within a less-inclusive environment, isolating them from alternative viewpoints. They will sell you on their "excellent college preparatory program" or their "low incidence of behavioral problems" or whatever, but ultimately, they're accomplishing that through exclusion, not inclusion. If your child's school will throw them out because they discover -- as the child normally ages or develops -- that they have a same-sex preference, or that they do not believe the religion the school is affiliated with, or that they wish to date outside their race, or whatever, you need to seriously ask yourself if your child will actually be better off in that school.
And I hope that if enough parents realize that their child will not be better off in that school, the schools will realize the error of their ways, and join the modern world voluntarily.
Disclaimer: I am a survivor of a three-year stint in Catholic school, which I blame for a large portion of my adolescent self-loathing.
Futher disclaimer: I know at least one person on my friends list whose son is in a religious school. From what I have learned about this particular school, it does not appear to suffer from these problems, nor do I think she would tolerate sending her son there if it did, and I therefore will not state that this rant applies categorically.
A California court has upheld a Lutheran school's right to expel two students for suspected lesbianism.
Like it or not, the court is correct here. A Lutheran school is a private, religious organization, and therefore has the right to discriminate based on its religious beliefs. If the school were a public school (or accepting vouchers to provide public education) it would be a very different story, but the school grows out of the church, not vice versa, and so the church's freedom of religion is paramount.
But at the same time, imagine the trauma these two young women have been put through. They were grilled about their sexuality in school; outed to their parents, teachers, and classmates; and then forcibly removed from what -- in the teen years -- is typically the most comfortable and supporting environment a kid has, their school. These kids are going to need serious therapy to overcome what this school, in the name of "good morals," has done to them.
Please remember that the whole reason for a religious school to exist is to raise children within a less-inclusive environment, isolating them from alternative viewpoints. They will sell you on their "excellent college preparatory program" or their "low incidence of behavioral problems" or whatever, but ultimately, they're accomplishing that through exclusion, not inclusion. If your child's school will throw them out because they discover -- as the child normally ages or develops -- that they have a same-sex preference, or that they do not believe the religion the school is affiliated with, or that they wish to date outside their race, or whatever, you need to seriously ask yourself if your child will actually be better off in that school.
And I hope that if enough parents realize that their child will not be better off in that school, the schools will realize the error of their ways, and join the modern world voluntarily.
Disclaimer: I am a survivor of a three-year stint in Catholic school, which I blame for a large portion of my adolescent self-loathing.
Futher disclaimer: I know at least one person on my friends list whose son is in a religious school. From what I have learned about this particular school, it does not appear to suffer from these problems, nor do I think she would tolerate sending her son there if it did, and I therefore will not state that this rant applies categorically.