Brazil's top court allows state schools to teach religion

SAO PAULO –  Brazil's Supreme Court has voted narrowly to authorize state schools to promote specific religions.
Chief Justice Carmen Lucia made the deciding vote Wednesday in favor of so-called confessional schools, at which teachers will be permitted to promote their religious beliefs during class. In non-confessional schools, teachers can only discuss the history and social impact of religion.

The 6-5 decision by Brazil's top court also states that students cannot be compelled to attend religion classes and that they must have their parents' permission to participate.
Brazil's constitution says religion classes should be available for pupils between the ages of 9 and 14, but it doesn't specify what should be taught.
Several private schools and universities in Brazil have links to the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical faiths.

Comments

Post a Comment

What's Popular

Ed Sheeran's 'wild lifestyle' pond to be investigated by council

Image
Suffolk Coastal District Council will investigate the pond on Ed Sheeran's estate Ed Sheeran's Suffolk estate will be inspected by council officials to make sure his pond is there for wildlife and not "a wild lifestyle". Some neighbours had been worried the pond would be used for swimming and watersports, which are against planning permission. Suffolk Coastal District Council is to investigate to make sure the rules are being followed. Other neighbours said they had "no problem with Ed Sheeran whatsoever". The wildlife pond, featuring a jetty, steps and sheds, was installed after being granted planning permission in January 2017. But last year the council questioned its possible use for recreational purposes during an "enforcement investigation". That case was closed when a fresh planning application said the jetty and steps were "to form interest" and allow for emergency access and the sheds were to cover the borehole an...
Read more

Trump says Florida shouldn’t arrest adults with "personal amounts" of Marijuana on them...

Image
  Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said he thinks adults in Florida shouldn’t be arrested for having “personal amounts” of marijuana in their possession, as the state’s voters are set to weigh in this November on recreational use of the drug.  Trump said in a  new post on Truth Social  that he thought the proposal, known as Amendment 3, would pass. “In Florida, like so many other States that have already given their approval, personal amounts of marijuana will be legalized for adults with Amendment 3. Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly,” Trump wrote.  Trump called for the Florida state legislature to “responsibly create laws that prohibit the use of it in public spaces, so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities.” “At the same time, someone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States. We do...
Read more

Professor Stephen Hawking's nurse struck off over his care

Image
Stephen Hawking died in March last year Professor Stephen Hawking's nurse has been struck off for failures over his care and financial misconduct. Patricia Dowdy, 61, who worked for the renowned scientist for 15 years, was handed an interim suspension in 2016,  it emerged at the weekend. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has now found she did not "provide the standards of good, professional care we expect and Professor Hawking deserved". Mrs Dowdy told The Mail on Sunday  she was upset and did not want to comment. The NMC made its decision to remove Mrs Dowdy, from Ipswich, from the nursing register at a private hearing in London. A fitness to practise panel said Mrs Dowdy's behaviour amounted to financial misconduct, dishonesty, not providing appropriate care, failing to cooperate with the NMC and not having the correct qualifications.
Read more

Google diversity head removed over anti-Semitic blog post

Image
  Google has removed its head of diversity over a 2007 blog post that said Jewish people had "an insatiable appetite for war and killing". In a post about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that resurfaced this week, Kamau Bobb also claimed Jewish people had an "insensitivity" to suffering. The post has now been deleted. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Google told the BBC that Mr Bobb would "no longer be part of our diversity team going forward". "We unequivocally condemn the past writings by a member of our diversity team that are causing deep offence and pain to members of our Jewish community," they said. "These writings are unquestionably hurtful. The author acknowledges this and has apologised. He will no longer be part of our diversity team... and will focus on his Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] work. "This has come at at a time where we've seen an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks,"...
Read more