(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of Faith and Reason, John-Henry Westen and Deacon Keith Fournier discuss several recent Supreme Court decisions, including the high court’s ruling to allow parents to opt their children out of reading pro-LGBT books, Father James Martin’s defense of these books, the high court’s ruling that allows South Carolina to defund Planned Parenthood, another ruling upholding age verification laws to view pornography, and more.
The panel looked at the high court’s 6-3 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, allowing parents to opt their kids out of school curriculum that included radically pro-LGBT books.
READ: Supreme Court rules parents can opt children out of LGBT books
Westen asked Deacon Keith to explain the significance of this case given his decades of experience as a constitutional lawyer. Deacon Keith emphasized that this important ruling affirms that parents, not teachers, are the primary educators of their children.
“What (the ruling) fundamentally does is once again, affirm that parents are the first teachers of their children and they have rights because it concerns whether or not parents can opt out … of instruction that goes against their deeply held religious beliefs,” the deacon said. “And in fact, they were not able to, and that’s why this case went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. They should be able to, and the court says, ‘Yes, they are able to.’ They are the first government, if you will.”
Turning to Catholic teaching on the issue, Deacon Keith stressed that the Catechism says that parents, as those first responsible for the education of their children, have the right to choose a school that corresponds to their own convictions.
“This right is fundamental. As far as possible, parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators,” he said. “Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.”
A bit later, the panel looked at heterodox Father James Martin’s response to the ruling in a since-deleted X post, then in an essay on his Outreach website, in which the Jesuit compared LGBT books to Our Lord’s parables.
READ: Fr. James Martin compares LGBT books for children to Jesus’ parables
Westen read from part of Martin’s essay.
The Supreme Court decision on parents opting out of their children reading books with LGBTQ characters is a reminder that objecting to LGBTQ issues often falls under the guise of ‘religious objections.’ Obviously, some material is not suitable for children, especially if it’s sexually explicit, but some of these books simply introduced gay characters.
Deacon Keith first underscored that Martin fails to recognize Catholic teaching about parents having the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children. He further emphasized that these books that parents wanted to opt out were not just introducing LGBT characters but aggressively pushing the lifestyle.
“Now, what Father Martin is trying to do is to make it look like, by pinning on a religious expression issue, in reality, what they’re doing is discriminating against ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ people,’” he said. “But if you look at books and you look at the instruction, it was aggressive and parents should (opt their children out).”
For more discussion on the Supreme Court’s decision allowing parents to opt their children from LGBT curriculum, Fr. James Martin’s reaction, and more, tune in to this episode of Faith and Reason.
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