I will use my one free posting to GoaNet for this week to answer Gabe's question (which I thought I had done in the past).
First of all... COMPROMISE is the only way to hold the domestic peace ;-) I have learned and continue to learn this over 25 years of marital bliss. Having said that, the early education of both our children was in a private Christian school http://www.froebel.com/ (my son went to the local Catholic public school initially). Both of them have been baptised, received First Holy Communion and been Confirmed by the local church. Although I had misgivings about this recently, I now see the need for these sacraments if one is to remain active in a faith based society. My daughter has joined a church choir group and recently participated in a carol singing contest called Voices for Christ. Last night I attended a reception for the participants and bellowed out Christmas Carols into the wee hours of the morning! I'm trying to put Christ back into the Winter Solstice ;-) It was put on my my good friends in the Knights of Columbus. My daughter currently attends a non-Catholic public secondary school after we were disappointed with the attitude of our local Catholic secondary school, which she was eligible to attend. Her secondary school education is very important to her (and me, as she intends following in my professional footsteps) and I would not jeopardize her education over ideological differences. However, both, my wife (who remains a practicing Catholic) and I feel we made the best decision for her. Her indoctrination into Catholicism is now entirely in the hands of her mother, with me playing the 'devil's advocate'. As I have said before on this forum, my fervent hope is that both my kids will use their rational judgment to follow whatever world view keeps them happy. For me, secular humanism comes closest to nirvana. There are a variety of programs to replace religious indoctrination of young children, the most effective being techniques to enhance their emotional intelligence from kindergarten onwards. Regarding the recent debate on religious education in Ontario, the leader of the Conservative party thought he could pander to the religious vote by offering to extend public funding to ALL religious schools (currently ONLY Catholic schools in Ontario are publicly funded). He misjudged the public mood for such action so badly that not only did his party lose the election but he lost in his own riding to the current minister of education! However, he did education in Ontario a huge favour by highlighting the discrepancy of the public funding of Catholic indoctrination. I am very active in this fight, being the chair of the Humanist coalition on the One School System Network http://www.onessn.org The issue was recently highlighted when a local Catholic School Board removed copies of The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman from their library shelves because the author is an atheist. They did the public a favour in helping publicize the release (yesterday) of the movie version of the book here. My letter to the editor or our local paper regarding the issue was recently published. http://www.mississauganews.com/article/9254 Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. ================ Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 14:49:51 +0000 From: "Gabe Menezes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I also ask this question, of our dear Kevin Saldanha w.r.t his own Children - let us all get enlightened here. Would you and Kevin compromise or give way to your spouses to hold the peace ?
