@kermit2023 wrote:
From research:
Enoch Burke has undergraduate degrees in History and Theology, a MA in Education, written a book titled The Hedonism and Homosexuality of John Piper and Sam Allberry, which criticised the teachings of the American theologians.
Enoch had been a teacher at Wilson’s Hospital School for 10yrs before losing his job in January 2023.
He was raised by deeply religious parents in Ireland.
Before his issue with the school arose, the family had protested against Covid lockdown restrictions, same-sex marriage and abortion rights.
Enoch Burke told the head teacher Niamh McShane and deputy head teacher John Galligan that he was ‘opposed to trangenderism’ as a result of his religion.
In January 2023, he was officially dismissed from his role at the school for intimidating and harassing a colleague and breaching the confidence of the child who was in the process of transitioning.
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My 2 cents.
This has nothing to do with racism, so we don’t need to keep bringing it up.
….but everything to do with gender and one man’s moral and ethical values and his right to stand by them. And because he refuses to go against his own values, he was put on paid leave by the school, to which he refused and continued to attend his employment. Then the school had him charged, consequently sacked, sued and now he sits in prison all because he stood up for himself and his religious based beliefs. Oh, and he refused to call a boy, a girl! And that’s the crux of it!
Yet, I have to assume the same court would have made him swear on the bible, no doubt! How ironic!
So I have to wonder… at what point don’t we have the right to stand by our beliefs, our moral standings on what we hold deep belief in? Is one’s faith or religion not a valid reason?
Where do we draw the line and why isn’t that line the same for everyone in every single profession?
At what point does ‘going to far’ actually become ‘to far’?
This teacher is a practicing Christian. Being employed for 10yrs at the same school, surely that has to account for something. (apparently not!)
I haven’t been able to find any info regarding previous conflicts with his during those 10yrs at that school, so I take from that there hasn’t been any.
One teenager has been the integral cog in the wheel that started it spinning and this wheel has spun way way way out of control! It’s utter madness.
If you want to be a boy, then be a boy.
If you want to be a girl, then be a girl.….but don’t demand the world accepts you!
It’s utter madness.
My own view (as a retired teacher) is a teacher should stick to the curriculum and not bring his or her own values into it, as far as possible.
It sounds as if this man was quite learned and probably a competent teacher if he had been teaching there for 10 years without a problem.
But it also sounds as if he was a deeply conservative, deeply religious person.
It is not on to harass colleagues, but it would be interesting to know what the issue was as I suspect it was all the same issue.
It is certainly not on to harass students either although i have to admit I yelled at a few in my time (not over this sort of issue obviously).
Had I been in charge at that school though, I would not have put this man anywhere near the transgender child.
I don't support his actions in returning to the school after being put on paid leave but I do think it is a shame that the whole issue had to get to the stage a (probably competent in most ways) person was basically fired from his job.
As for transgender people, I have always maintained that nature makes mistakes. That won't be a popular view. But there is a rising movement, for example, by some deaf groups to claim that being deaf is not a disability. Sorry, but it is. I think people sometimes equate tolerance with accepting that everything is normal or that there is no normal.
Being transgender is outside the norm. Doesn't make the person 'wrong', just different.
I would have put this child with more understanding teachers.
But it is a shame the whole issue had to escalate to this extent. I think it could probably have been dealt with at school level.
