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A duty to love and care for everyone

But the ‘long-term impact of the celebration of identity confusion’ needs to be addressed

Re: A Mother’s perspective (Progress letters, Friday, October 26, 2018)

The recent school trustee election has garnered much attention on social media, and we too are troubled by the level of discourse. We are saddened that the very people who are so concerned about eradicating bullying in schools resort to bullying themselves as they attempt to advance their position.

We have concerns about the SOGI 123 curriculum, but that doesn’t mean we hate anyone. We agree with Ms. Keeley that we are called to love each other. The question is how are we to show love? We love our children, but does that mean we affirm everything they do? It is precisely because we follow Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself” that we are concerned about a curriculum that encourages teachers to affirm actions which are contrary to God’s law, divorced from biological reality, determined individually, and celebrated unconditionally.

Our faith guides us in our belief that we have a duty to love and care for everyone from our own families, but also our neighbours, and even our enemies. Every boy and girl is created in God’s image, and deserves protection at school and everywhere else. Bullying absolutely needs to be addressed in our schools.

But characterizing this particular debate as one about bullying does a disservice to the conversation that needs to happen about how sexual orientation and gender identity are introduced to our children, and the long-term impact of the celebration of identity confusion.

We can, indeed we must, do better for our children. The question is, by whose standards, and at what cost?

Mike & Jennifer Schouten

Yarrow, BC