You can’t teach children inclusivity by denying them the opportunity to study Bible verses. Removing verses just because someone thinks they are offensive also takes away the freedom of religious speech, commentators told RT.
The Cornerstone Christian Academy and the Battle River School Division in Alberta, Canada, are at loggerheads over a Bible passage the school board considers offensive and interprets as indicating homosexuality is a sin.
The school board told the Academy it should not teach Bible scripture which vilifies someone's sexual orientation, but officials at the school fought back accusing the board of clamping down on freedom of religion.
RT spoke to a video blogger Lauren Southern and a radio host Kammer Kinnarath to weigh in on the controversy.
RT: Kammer, could you tell us about the contradictions that you see in this story? Is the board right or wrong?
Kammer Kinnarath: It is hard to say. I am very conflicted in both terms. I am a religious gay man who is Muslim, and when I hear things about people taking things away from any Holy text, it does bother me in a way. But at the same time, there is the talk about teaching our kids how to be inclusive and how to respect different types of races, cultures, sexualities. And in order to do that to take that away – it sounds like a step forward, but at the same time, you are taking away a freedom of religion, freedom of religious speech. What would be more responsible is that if you were to teach the texts the way that it is. And then talk about different perspectives and how to walk around it as humans.
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RT: Lauren, does this ban limit religious freedom?
Lauren Southern: Right. And this is the issue with the word ‘offense,’ and that is what the school board used... They said you need to get rid of all offensive texts from the Bible and stop teaching this. And when it comes to that word it could be interpreted in any way. This woman who was particularly upset with the verses regarding homosexuality, she could be offended by anything. I could be offended by the whole Bible, hence why some people in history burned the entire book because they found the entire thing offensive. I actually agree here that instead of responding to censorship with more censorship, we should respond with more free speech. And we should be teaching things about inclusivity as well as the things about creationism and evolution. Just bring more education instead of trying to deny the opportunity to understand these texts to the children.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.