A 'factual' curriculum?

In his statement to the House of Commons the Secretary of State said:

'I wish to be clear that educating adolescents on issues such as contraception, and access to abortion in Northern Ireland, should be done in a factual way that does not advocate, or oppose, a particular view on the moral and ethical considerations of abortion or contraception.'

Heaton-Harris' insistance that issues such as abortion should be taught in a morally neutral way is laughable. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus, on the other hand, says, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."

What Chris Heaton-Harris fails to understand is that there is no such thing as neutrality - you are either with Christ or you are against Him. By simply seeking to teach our children about accessing abortion Heatton-Harris is making a moral statement that abortion is morally acceptable and is, therefore, taking a stand directly against God.

Furthermore Heatton-Harris' desire to create a 'factual' curriculum falls when the facts that are being taught are not facts at all.

For example, 'Unit 4: Gender Identities' of the LGBTQ+ Matters section of the CCEA RSE Hub contains the following 'facts' that are to be presented to pupils as part of Activity 3:

These 'facts' are of course little more than philosophies and fly in the face of thousands of years of scientific understanding of human sexuality. What is more worrying, however, is what will happen when children questions these state mandated 'facts'.

By claiming that something is a 'fact' you are claiming that it is correct and there is no other valid opinion. Pupils who, therefore, state opinions that are contrary to the state mandated facts will be told that they are wrong and, if they persist, will be punished and labelled as intolerant.

The video below was recorded during June 2023 in a school in Scotland. Pay particular attention to how the teacher tells the pupil he is wrong because his opinion that there are only two genders doesn't match up to the opinion of the state. 

Action Points

• Refuse to participate with the myth of neutrality. Rather, when speaking to politicians, principals and Boards of Governors point to the truth contained in scriptures.