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Canada: Education Ministry under fire for web link to Scientology front group

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Thursday February 12, 2009

Ministry publication comes under fire

Education Minister Shirley Bond is defending a ministry publication that identifies a Scientology website as a potential resource for teachers to use while preparing lessons about human rights and social justice.
Scientology vs. human rights and social justice
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, was not a ‘great humanitarian’ but rather a charlatan and a quack
Scientology vs. Education
Scientology as a hate group — behavior based on the unethical teachings of L. Ron Hubbard
Scientology ‘human rights’ front group as a hate group
Scientology’s quackery, quackery and more quackery
Research resources on Scientology
Comments & resources by ReligionNewsBlog.com
The Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) website is identified as a “supplementary resource” in a teaching guide developed by the ministry as part of an effort to make the K-12 curriculum gay-friendly. It’s also mentioned in the guide for a new elective course called Social Justice 12.
In an interview, Bond insisted that mention of the YHRI website does not constitute an endorsement of it or the Church of Scientology. It was included on the advice of teachers who helped develop the guides, but it will be used in the classroom only if approved by teachers and local boards of education.
The website describes Youth for Human Rights International as a non-profit corporation that promotes tolerance and peace. It makes little mention of its affiliation with Scientology, although it identifies the church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King as “great humanitarians of the 20th century.”
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