This is getting ridiculous. What next, they´re going to fire 10 percent of their teachers and expel 10 percent of the students?! What about banning these Nazi-like religious schools instead?

By stingo | September 29, 2009 3:26 PM

Go ahead! Open the door for this sh!t.
Lets allow religious schools to sack gays, and pay them other gay tax money. What will then stop some companies to get rid of pregnant, turkish, black or disabled people? C'mon freedom of personal choices, isnt it? Give the precendent and the rest will follow! how on earth can a teacher be judged/evaluated by his/her sexual orientation? Part of year end appraisal interview, well have became gay this year? Or they teach say math or English in some other way?

By Jojo | September 29, 2009 4:30 PM

i am sick and tired how we bend over backwards to pacify religious zealots, enough is enough, well i hope they can sue them for discrimination, what sort of message does this send out, you cant discriminate unless its religious lol, really, thank goodness religion is slowly dying out, invisible man in the sky indeed

By adhd | September 29, 2009 4:31 PM

Okay, so why fund them with public money? I love the Netherlands because it is smarter than the U.S. in some ways. I hope your MPs will realize this is a mistake. I believe in allowing these schools their beliefs (as misguided as I think they are) but let them survive on their own funding.

By Rick B. | September 29, 2009 4:40 PM

that sounds weird. i would ban religious school instead !

By morris | September 29, 2009 6:33 PM

But wait! If, in fact "everyone's gay in Amsterdam" as the National Tourist Board tells us, then I'm assuming that there are no teachers at all in such schools if they happen to be in Amsterdam! Please help me understand how a potential gay visitor is to reconcile "we want you to come visit here and spend your money here" with "it's ok to discriminate against a perfectly competent teacher simply because they are gay"?

I wonder if other biblical instructions are also going to be the basis for exclucing potential teachers? Presumably one wouldn't be able to teach at such schools if one had committed adultery, or eaten shellfish, or worn clothing made of two different materials, or had ever disobeyed one's parents, or....

Sounds like simple hypocracy to me

By Richard Sudol | September 29, 2009 7:26 PM

Doh! Here we go again! What's next, head scarves?

By stevie | September 29, 2009 7:27 PM

I guess the church wishes to burn "witches" again. When will the human race realize all religions are based on lies. Freedom from religion is a far better life than being a sheep to another human. Science can cure you mind of the silly fears religions put into your mind.

By Paul Martin | September 29, 2009 7:57 PM

Very confusing, Guusje!

By Hans | September 29, 2009 8:53 PM

This is totally hypocritical. The Dutch government allowed a muslim teacher to be fired because she would not shake hands with men. Either allow all fundamentalist religions to practice freely, or better yet, restrict government funding from all fundamentalist religious schools that practice any kind of discrimintation.

By Quest | September 29, 2009 10:52 PM

So now gay people are now required to fund discrimination against themselves! How absurd and evil! The schools should not receive government funds because taxpayers should not have to pay for discrimination against themselves.

By Daniel | September 30, 2009 12:06 AM

how sad! being banned from being an educator because of your sexual orientation (private business)?! what's next, because you've inter-married, or because you drink or gamble? it's a sad state of affairs, and unfortunately this can lead to even worse erosion of right.

By Karen | September 30, 2009 12:10 AM

Will they be keeping slaves? After all, that crap is in the Bible too? This is discrimination and nothing more.

By Glenn Waterston | September 30, 2009 3:13 AM

If the teacher can teach well, is it a problem? Maybe schools are afraid that he will teach students to be homosexual instead. How far will schools go? Does it mean that a homosexual lacks integrity?

By Linlita | September 30, 2009 5:30 AM

Finally some sensible decision making! If homosexuality goes against Christian doctrine, then forcing Christian schools to hire people who disregard the Christian faith is completely ridiculous!

Nobody would expect a school dedicated to teaching atheism to hire a practicing Christian, or a strict Muslim school to hire a dedicated Buddhist, or a school committed to training children in Marxism to hire an influential capitalist.

Any educational institution should be free to have its own professional requirements... and if the institution is based around a belief system, then adherence to that belief system is certainly a valid professional requirement.

By Sean | September 30, 2009 7:45 AM

A fair and well balanced decision

By bet | September 30, 2009 8:03 AM

Now all we need is Islamic Law to be used agains non Muslims and we will have completely lost our self respect in this country.
My tax euros should not fund any organisation that descriminates agains me.

Religion is a virus. We need a vaccine to fight it!

By Darren | September 30, 2009 8:13 AM

One of the nice things about the Netherlands is that it can make such a fair decisiont because they understand that such a decision is not about descrimination but protection of religious rights that are foundational in this country that has at its root Christian values.

By bet | September 30, 2009 9:01 AM

"Nobody would expect a school dedicated to teaching atheism to hire a practicing Christian, or a strict Muslim school to hire a dedicated Buddhist, or a school committed to training children in Marxism to hire an influential capitalist."

You are right Sean, no one would expect such a thing because it would make too much sense. Such schools would make a much more informed and balanced course of education and understanding. And we can't be having that as everything has to be black and white.

By Geuzen76 | September 30, 2009 9:28 AM

I think it's fair for private schools to not want gay teachers. They have their own beliefs afterall. In that sense though, they should NOT receive public funding and survive on tuition from the students' families. I think that's the only fair way to do it.

Ironically I am a Christian and I do not agree with my fellow Christians that homosexuality is wrong. No one chooses to be gay. I believe they are born that way and had no say in it. God doesn't create mistakes so God wanted them to be this way. In my eyes, God APPROVES.

And who cares if any God approves really? Everyone can be who they are and should be treated with respect. If I were gay I wouldn't want to work in a school where I'd feel judged like that so let them have their anti gay policy, who cares? I doubt the gay population is breaking down the doors begging to work there!

By Laura | September 30, 2009 11:15 AM

Professional requirements are not the issue. What about the right of the child!! The right to an education that informs children and equips them to make their own decisions about life. Christian schools should Not have the right to sack an athiest as this would be deny the child to alternative, balanced opinions. I hate to say it but athiets schools should inform children that some people hold other beliefs. How else will children cope with the modern world if they are not well informed? This, of course, goes for homosexuality too!

It is the state's role to provide a balanced education no matter what so that ALL children can make the most of life. Remember, there is no such thing as a christian/etc. child, only a child of christian parents. Don't let our children make the same uninformed mistakes as their parents.

By ELG | September 30, 2009 11:33 AM

Acceptable decision to me. I better choose to be called a 'discriminator' than a 'dictator'.
Tolerance is also applicable to people or organisations with strong conviction towards their religious virtues.

By Prophet | September 30, 2009 1:29 PM

I was going to write my 2 cents here, but after reading everyones comments (with the exception of the comments of Sean and bet) I find no need to. I am glad that so many people are appalled by this blatant bigotry and hypocrisy.

By Marc | September 30, 2009 1:40 PM

Wonderfully tolerant expressions of inclusiveness on here providing you are an atheist. If not then the calls for tolerance are somehow legitimately denied to those of faith.
Hypocrisy and bigotry exist among those who charge others with it.

By B. Morgan | September 30, 2009 11:40 PM

I'm happy to tolerate non-atheist people, until they start calling for discrimination against minorities. If this makes me a bigot and a hypocrite, then i'm sorry but you have your bible screwed on backwards.

By Geuzen76 | October 1, 2009 11:26 AM

The subject here is actually very simple and when all the complexities and BS is taken away the solution is just as simple.

The Netherlands recognises that there are religious views, be it mild or very conservative, Muslim, Hindu, Christian or whatever.

The government, is required to ensure a set of standards, what equates an education.

Thus, schools that run, supported and represent a religious community is fine AND should, if something conflicts with that religious belief, not allow it. An openly homosexual teacher defies those teachings, so do not allow it.

BUT (and this is the point) IF such a school choses to cross such a line then they get no government financial support and they must be scrutinized regularly to ensure that they meet the education criteria or face closure.

By Solkhar | October 1, 2009 1:59 PM

Regarding those that want to withhold funds from Christian schools who are only being consistent.

Most people forget that public funds are actually taxes that are exacted from everyone, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Single, married and such. It is only fair that those funds go back to supporting each of those communities in equal part.

If you want to discriminate against/punish a specific believe system then consider that one day the shoe might be on the other foot and you might be the one that is discriminated against.

I find it so interesting that certain groups insist that we must be open to their viewpoint to the extent of wanting to crush other viewpoints. That does not sound very open minded to me. Therein is the hypocrisy.

By Anthony | October 3, 2009 5:59 AM

This article is quite crude and does not represent what the discussion is about. There is no question gay teachers can be fired because of their homosexuality. It was not like that and the new proposal does not allow it either. Only when a gay teacher openly does not agree with the principles of a religious school, he can be fired. This does not include having a gay relationship or coming out.

By Peter Dankmeijer | October 5, 2009 11:36 AM

The demand for Muslim schools comes from parents who want their children a safe environment with an Islamic ethos.Parents see Muslim schools where children can develop their Islamic Identity where they won't feel stigmatised for being Muslims and they can feel confident about their faith. Muslim schools are working to try to create a bridge between communities.

There is a belief among ethnic minority parens that the British schooling does not adequatly address their cultural needs. Failing to meet this need could result in feeling resentment among a group who already feel excluded. Setting up Muslim school is a defensive response.

State schools with monolingual teachers are not capable to teach English to bilingual Muslim children. Bilingual teachers are needed to teach English to such children along with their mother tongue. According to a number of studies, a child will not learn a second language if his first language is ignored.

Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. Muslims
have the right to educate their children in an environment that suits their culture. This notion of "integration", actually means "assimilation", by which people generally really mean "be more like me". That is not multiculturalism. In Sydney, Muslims were refused to build a Muslim school, because of a protest by the residents. Yet a year later, permission was given for the building of a Catholic school and no protests from the residents. This clrearly shows the blatant hypocrisy, double standards and racism. Christians oppose Muslim schools in western countries yet build their own religious schools.

British schooling and the British society is the home of institutional racism. The result is that Muslim children are unable to develop self-confidence and self-esteem, therefore, majority of them leave schools with low grades. Racism is deeply rooted in British society. Every native child is born with a gene or virus of racism, therefore, no law could change the attitudes of racism towards those who are different. It is not only the common man, even member of the royal family is involved in racism. The father of a Pakistani officer cadet who was called a "Paki" by Prince Harry has profoundly condemned his actions. He had felt proud when he met the Queen and the Prince of Wales at his son's passing out parade at Sandhurst in 2006 but now felt upset after learning about the Prince's comments. Queen Victoria invited an Imam from India to teach her Urdu language. He was highly respected by the Queen but other members of the royal family had no respect for him. He was forced to go back to India. His portrait is still in one of the royal place.

There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.

Iftikhar Ahmad

www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

By Iftikhar | October 5, 2009 9:05 PM

The comments by Sean | September 30, 2009 7:45 AM and by Solkhar | October 1, 2009 1:59 PM, are all that need to be said my friends. Let every religion practice its own beliefs, so long as it is not violent and against love and life. That is democracy!

By Alfred Mizzi | October 9, 2009 3:31 PM

Hypocracy goes both ways. People who send their children to a religeous school also pay tax and it is their money that pays for the educations of their children, why discriminate against them by withholding education funds. If some of the writers think they are so open minded, why are they so opposed to people who think otherwise? Calling Christian schools "Nazi Like' sounds like hate mongering to me. Stingo definitely lives by who different standards, whinc can only be describes as hypocritical.
D.J.

By Dirk John | October 9, 2009 9:49 PM

I understand that there is a lot of misunderstanding about but want to clarify that at the Dutch Christians schools this has nothing to do with homo-hatred. The schools in the Netherlands that deal/struggle with this issue believe based on the Bible that practising homosexuality goes against God's Word, which for them is THE authority for faith and life. Staff of these schools, when they get a position, sign and promise to live according to the Bible and to show this to the students, also by example. That is the purpose of Christian schools: not only to give good education but to do so with a Christian identity that will teach children and young people to believe and live in a Christian way. I read reports of the minister of education who visited several of these schools and he was pleasantly surprised how their was openness about homosexuality, e.g. there were kids who said, "yes I'm gay but I don't practise it because of my beliefs."

So then staff that is gay or lesbian has a right to loving support, and I have heard several times of people who receive that. But, and this is what you may disagree with, the belief is that having a homosexual relationship (so not being gay but practising it) is against the Bible and therefore in conflict with the promise that was made and the contract that was signed. What they then do is have conversations to see what can be done to change that but if the staff still wants to make that lifestyle choice, a solution will be sought. One will not just be fired from the one day to the next but together employer and employee will try to find a new job for this person, which again is caring and Christian. These things above are actually in the policies of most if not all Christian schools in the Netherlands.

Whether you agree with it or not, don't just assume that there is homo-hatred everywhere where people disagree with homosexuality. Research shows that there is more hatred amongst Muslims than in the Christian communities and schools that brought up this issue in the Netherlands. Therefore, more work is being done to integrate and teach the Muslim schools/communities the same policies but that is still difficult.

Hope this helps!

By Jannie R. | October 10, 2009 2:40 AM