When it comes to using lottery funds for the betterment of Catholic schools in Alberta, is Bishop Henry what society needs ? Is he challenging Catholics, forcing them to live life as they should according to Christian doctrine ? Is he drawing the line that separates the true believers and followers from the attendees ? Or is he just another short guy in a robe on a power trip ?
My kids go to Catholic school so I got involved with the School council a couple of years ago now and have since been the chairperson for the council and am the current president of our fundraising foundation. The foundation is a registered society and our job is to do the big money fundraising and one of the ways we do this is through casinos. I don't know about you but I am tired of all the people who show up at my door looking for money and I am not sending my kids out to fund raise for things that a debt free province like Alberta should be providing. Our School uses these funds to purchase things like computers, overhead projectors, network lines, library books, gym bleachers, math & science resources - and the list goes on. These are necessities for a school to operate, not frivolous items.
If the public school sector is allowed to continue improving their schools with the extra millions each year that lottery funds provide and the catholic schools are stuck doing bottle drives, the quality of education between the 2 school boards will vary so drastically that I believe most parents would be forced to enroll their kids into the public system. Religion is something that can be taught at home, within the community and at church so I think it would be pretty easy for people to separate faith from a requirement in school education. If parents want to keep thier kids in a faith based education system but are forced to pay more, I believe they will then start to look at the many private and charter schools in Alberta where religion isn't a subject but woven into the very foundation of the school.
If the tension comes from the source of the money, then I have a solution. Take regular tax dollars and fund morally challenged groups, schools and projects with those funds. Take the lottery funds and fund things like homelessness, addiction programs, healthcare, research and public transit. It's not like you'll find his holyness stuffed in the corner of a crowded c-train fanning himself with his big pointy hat like the rest of us so he'll have no grounds to complain about the source of the funds used for public transit expansion.
I think the Bishop needs to be careful that his position on the use of lottery funds doesn't become the ultimate demise of the Catholic School system in Alberta.
1 comment:
One of these days prostitution will be legal in Canada, like it is in some other countries. Let me tell you, that's going to make a lot of money! Soon enough a couple of non-profits are going to wonder why only the pimps are getting all that money, so they'll hook up with some brothel and have a "Soccer Night Sleepover", all proceeds go to the local junior soccer league. As people get accustomed to the idea and government funding for schools decreases, the public schools will get on board too.
And Bishop Eddie will have some soul-searching to do.
Do you use money from an activity that is pefectly legal but that you personally (and in Bishop Henry's case, corporately) stand firmly against? If you don't use the money will you fall behind the "competition"? Is it more important to stand for what you believe, or to do whatever is necessary to get ahead? If refusing to get involved in the business of prostitution means the Catholic school board will have to close its doors, is the decision still the right one?
Eddie, you may have a different personal opinion than Bishop Henry over the morality of gambling, but you cannot slight him for standing for what his institution believes.
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