Students claim they were forced to sign anti-abortion petition

A national secular group has charged that students at a Toronto-area high school have been “coerced” into signing an anti-abortion petition — an allegation the Catholic school board denies.

“Having students learn about their faith is one thing, coercing them into supporting a Bill in the House of Commons is another,” said Michael Payton, national executive director of Centre for Inquiry Canada, a Toronto-based atheist group.

“This is a clear example of indoctrination and pernicious lobbying that is being funded by taxpayers in Ontario.”

Late last week, students at St. Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga were asked whether they would be willing to sign a petition in support of Stephen Woodworth, the Kitchener Centre Tory MP who has asked the House of Commons to open a debate on Section 223 of the Criminal Code, which states a child in the womb is not human until birth. Mr. Woodworth has not proposed a “bill” but rather a “motion” that would allow Section 223 to be debated.

The section does not cover abortion — there has been no abortion law in Canada for 24 years — but it does play a role in the debate.

This type of activity is more proof that Catholic schools in the province should lose their funding, said Justin Trottier, a spokesman for the centre.

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KnowTheTruthToday

The people making the charges need to prove them. It may turn out they are lying like these types do in many cases. They need to put up or shut up and if their charges are proved untrue they need to foot all the court bill and cost for this. Same goes for the school if they are found to be lying.
- http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
  
  Why? Christians lie all the time. They lie with their hand on the bible in court even though their "god" says not to do that very thing.
  - msjallen
    
    Jeff, not all Christians follow the Word of God because they don't take the time to read or study it. Many people call themselves Christian who are not but think they are because they are taught "works" for salvation. You can't put all Christians in the same room and expect to get the same information from all of them even though the Bible has the same information from God. It all goes back to each person is born with a sin nature and too many Christians are controlled by it instead of the Holy Spirit. God has given us a volition and we have a choice whether to believe in Jesus Christ as our savior or not to believe as well as whether we will follow His plan for our life or not.
    - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
      
      Not all Christians follow the same ideas because no Christians can agree on what the ideas mean. This is supposedly the word of your all powerful, all knowing lord, which only Christians can understand. However, no one who believes they are a Christian agrees with any of the others who also believe they are Christians. Just look at the arguments that Desperateville has with anyone who does not agree with his Calvinistic views on the bible. They must be wrong for otherwise he would be wrong. Yet, the reality is that both are wrong.
      
      What this actually shows is that people who can hardly understand what a scientific theory is, also cannot understand what is written in their book of fables.
      - msjallen
        
        Jeff, it is not God who is wrong it is people who are wrong because of their sinful nature. The Bible is not wrong for the perfect God made sure it is protected for all generations. Even unbelievers disagree with things including scientist who disagree about the same information. Historians disagree with history. So what not all Christians agree what the Bible says; it is our only knowledge of Him and the reason why we are here.
        Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
        2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy (Biblical knowledge) was ever made by an act of human will (design, purpose), but men were carried along by the Holy Spirit who spoke from God.
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQzrb2U0g8o&am…
        
        I was watching some Disney videos with my my daughter when it occurred to me that these videos are a wonderful example of the stupidity of the idea that the bible is accurate since it has 66 books written by different people about the same concept.
        
        As this You Tube posting shows, Disney videos also show that different people can write about the same topic and agree with each other. These videos show that people from different backgrounds can find love with someone they are not remotely similar to.
        
        Now, does that mean these videos were divinely inspired? Of course not. It only means that people writing about a similar topic can often agree with each other. The same thing is true about the bible. What is very amusing about the bible is the number of stories that were discarded even though they were also claimed to be divinely inspired. It seems that the final determination of what is divinely inspired relies on mere humans to determine.
      - msjallen
        
        Nice try, Jeff, but the Bible is the only book that is Divinely inspired and when you try to talk about God or the Bible you are confusing in your statements because you do not know what you are talking about. Yes, there are a lot of people who agree on different subjects and there are many people who agree with what the Bible says. That argument doesn't hold water. I also know that no amount of logic will change your mind so there is no sense in trying. My prayer for you is that you come to realize that what the Bible says is true and Jesus Christ died for your sins too.
http://www.sargee5.blogspot.com The Watchman

I believe the students were forced to sign an anti-abortion petition about as much as I believe that Islam isn't the largest terrorist threat in the entire planet. nuff-said!
- http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
  
  As usual, your posts say nothing.
  - Randy131
    
    On the contrary, it is very understandable, and probably agreed with by most peace loving people, as well as most Christians, to bad you aren't one of the affore mentioned.
  - http://www.sargee5.blogspot.com The Watchman
    
    That's because you and know-it-alls like you, are totally irrelevant.
    - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
      
      It is the theists who claim to know it all, not the Atheists.
      - http://www.sargee5.blogspot.com The Watchman
        
        Thank you for your insight Oh great Oracle of the Internet. <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: bookman old style, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0; MARGIN: 5px 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0px; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px"></DIV>
msjallen

No one should have to sign anything whether they believe in it or not. It is between you and the Lord what you believe and hopefully it is from His Word.
- Evermyrtle
  
  Very true, BUT if this is a lie and they were not forced to sign, that needs to come out and made public. The accusers should not be able to coerce them into saying they had signed it.
- Penny
  
  This is the most rational comment here. Thank you.
aceituna

Among the many different articles brought up by Zionica, there are many about which I may have opinions, but either the comments more or less cover what I believe, or I just have no desire to make a comment. I beliefve that applies also to opinions and petitions. No one should be coerced to sign anything, but if he feels strong enogh about certain issues he should be encouraged to sign. "Know the truth" is correct in that we don't know if the charges are real or just propaganda by the Left. Unless such charges can be substanciated there is no reason to condemn either the students or the school. If they can't be substanciated they should be dropped.
Chris

Get religion and all its crazy beliefs out of the education system. Nothing more than child abuse.
- Kenneth
  
  So educating children in God's word and way of salvation is child abuse?? Chris, you need the same educating. I suppose abortion is not child abuse to you and your ilk.
- KnowTheTruthToday
  
  It may be that radical people are the problem like you happen to be.
Buck

Is someone claiming that students don't lie ? Of course they do , and with demonrats it is an art .
keyboardshark

Only in the mind of a pro-abortion liberal could being asked about something be equivalent to being "coerced". Their idea of free speech is silencing any opinions other than their own.
- KnowTheTruthToday
  
  You could be right. This I do know, If you state what you believe, the liberals say you are forcing it on them. If by making a statement we are forcing something on them, how much does that state about their apparent weakness of mind.
aceituna

Keyboard and Know have revealed the truth about the mind set of the liberal. It is a sad state of affairs when just voicing your opinion cause someone to accuse one of coercing others. Yet that is exactly what they are trying to do by making that accusation. Its like saying one is stupid for having a different opinion or worse.
theghostranger

on the contrary, i believe many people should have to sign their names. they should have to sign to vote, to cash a check, to use a credit card … and the list goes on and on. Also they should have to sign if they attend a private school that has a policy in-line with the schools beliefs. You don't want to sign. Leave. The time has come for those of you who have the so-called religion "between you and God only" to know that that is NOT the way it will be. It never was. Jesus always made his beliefs known. He always stood for right and he always told the sinners they were sinners. He never said I should not judge you because of the way you act. (I know about the woman being stoned and the other precise incidents.)
msjallen

What we believe is a lie to those who reject Jesus Christ and very threatening to them. They think what if it is true and they have to think in the light of eternity. They don’t want to hear it or see what He is going to do.
I John 5:19-20 We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.