Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Encouraging Blasphemy

That's on the program for the Mother Teresa Catholic secondary school in Ontario. They are setting up a prayer room for Muslims in the school. And, of course, they're tremendously proud of it.

"They're members of our school community. We want to ensure that all our students feel welcome, that they feel that they belong," said Principal Ana Paula Fernandes.

The prayer room, expected to be completed by the end of September, is located on a busy stretch on the second floor, just metres from the school's large chapel.

"That was very important to ensure that it was included in the main building, and not tucked away somewhere," Fernandes said.

Yeah, it's important that we set up places the false worship of religions that are essentially based on blasphemy. And why are they facilitating the blasphemy?

Grade 12 student Amir Farhi, 17, was part of the group that led the push for the prayer room.

"We do have quite a bit of Muslims in this school who find it hard to practice their religion," he said. "Having this prayer room, it's easy for them to do their Friday prayers."

Though Muslims pray facing Mecca, Saudi Arabia, five times a day, the room will mainly be used Fridays, the holiest day of the week in Islam.

Administration and students are working with a local imam, a leader of Islamic worship services, to create guidelines governing use of the room.

"We just want to come together as a community, exchange our beliefs, sharing our ideas and helping grow this school with its values," said Farhi, who applauded school officials for moving so quickly to create the room.

What values?  One would think that a Catholic school would number the propagation of Truth as a value. Apparently, though, Truth is a secondary concern to providing a forum for the worship, beliefs, and ideas that lead souls away from God. Of course, we all remember the stories from the Bible where the Apostles set up altars to false gods, right? Right? Something about what kind of concord there is between Christ and Belial. Or maybe this:

What then? Do I say, that what is offered in sacrifice to idols, is any thing? Or, that the idol is any thing?  But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils.

1 Corinthians 10:19-20

I wonder if they will wind up making the leap from setting up rooms for Mohammedan prayer to wiping out space for Christian worship.

I know, I know. I'm just being all mean and unirenical.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Are they going to install facilities for Protestant and Jewish and pagan students as well? That said, Catholic schools are not organized in Canada as they are in the U.S.; that may or may not be germane to the discussion.