So, it’s Sunday morning, you’re wide awake, but everyone you know who’s up at this hour is going to church. Why not join us for brunch?
Albert’s Family Restaurant at Bonnie Doon Mall
Sunday, February 26, 2012
9:00am
We’ll have something with the SEA logo on the table, and will probably be at a table close to the front right, or in the back left.
By Donna
The complaint submissions sent by Donna Hunter and three other Morinville parents have been accepted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission under Section 4 of the Alberta Human Rights Act. It was welcome news after the complaint submission sent by Donna Hunter and another Morinville parent under Section 11.1 of the AHRA was not accepted in January. The two parents have since requested a review of the AHRC director’s decision to decline the Section 11.1 complaints. The parents have not heard back yet on this request.
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In 2008, Quebec introduced a mandatory ethics and religion class. The class includs the major faiths in Quebec and discussions of ethics. To me, that seems like a great idea. I’d like to see more of that in Alberta schools.
One couple challenged the mandatory classes in the courts, on the basis of their Charter rights.
According to the Supreme Court’s case summary, the parents have a problem with the course because of the “disruption caused by forced, premature contact with a series of beliefs that were mostly incompatible with those of the family, as well as the adverse effect on the religious faith of the members of this family.”
By Don
Recently on the SEA Facebook page there was some discussion about the Speech from the Throne made by Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor, Don Ethell. There was criticism levelled at the Speech for what as I see as two main issues: the content of the Speech itself and then about references made to God at the conclusion of the Speech. It quickly became clear that I am in the minority as I see no fault with the Lieutenant Governor’s remarks and see no reason to criticize the man or office, at least in this case. So, let me explain my reasoning on each issue.
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By Andrew
I think that we have all seen some pretty spectacular over-reactions by Christians to some fairly inoffensive billboards and bus ads. So the question comes up, is it possible to run pro-atheism ads without offending fundies? Well, an atheist group in Scranton, Pennsylvania is trying to find out, by putting up the least offensive ad they could come up with, and waiting to see what kind of reaction they get.
http://m.examiner.com/atheism-in-philadelphia/atheist-bus-ad-to-put-christians-to-the-test
By Les
On Thursday November 24th, 2011, two friends and myself attended a talk that the churches on our base in CFB Cold Lake, AB were hosting at the base theatre. The company is called Creation Ministries International (CMI). We had been made aware of their talk a few days earlier with a flier in a friend’s mailbox. We decided to go, mainly to see what they were about, and maybe to ask questions. We spent the couple of nights leading up to the talk going over their website reading up on their topic of the talk. It is called Genesis: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle. We combed through our personal science books and the Bible. Also, we watched a video about the “great flood”.
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Donna made an appearance on Alberta Prime Time to discuss the Morinville human rights complaint, and showed herself to be a great representative of the fight for secular education in the town.
http://albertaprimetime.com/Headlines.aspx?pd=3276
By Kerri
I was a theistic-type ‘metaphysical healer’ less than 2 years ago. I wanted to raise the world’s ‘frequency and consciousness’. I read all the books, attended the classes and shows, got a certificate in ‘crystal healing’ and everything. I was surrounded every moment with constant New Age beliefs while working at a local health food store.
(These days, as a skeptic, ‘having a certificate in crystal therapy’ is like having a certificate in training unicorns and dancing with leprechauns. It’s deluded, doesn’t exist, and is a waste of everyone’s time.)
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In 2009, the Alberta government passed revisions to the Alberta Human Rights Act. It contained a controversial parental rights clause that required schools to give advanced notice of classes involving religion, human sexuality or sexual orientation, so that parents could pull their children from them, if they wanted.
After more than a year of dealing with the school board and education ministry to obtain secular public schooling for their children, the parents in Morinville filed a human rights complaint with the Commission.
The Alberta Human Rights Commission refused to consider the case. Supposedly the education minister has a solution ready to go, and just hasn’t announced it, but the parents are expecting a great solution, based on the ministry’s past performance.
Morinville Public Elementary School had its first day of classes in their new modular classrooms Monday, January 23. The modulars are located adjacent to an existing Elementary School, Georges P. Vanier. The two modular classrooms were expected for the beginning of the 2011-12 school year but were delayed for months. Students were first taught in the Morinville Community Cultural Centre, but increased enrollment required larger space and the students were moved to conference rooms in the Sturgeon School Division Office. Schooling in the modular classrooms will begin a shared space arrangement between Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division – the public school division for Morinville – and the Sturgeon School Division – the guest provider.
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