Enoch Burke turns up to school again despite sacking - read OP before posting

You and I may class Burke as a weird guy.

But he is staunch in his religious beliefs so much so they become part of his identity. You could argue that Burke never asked to have to be put into a position where he has to go out his way to use a different gender pronoun when addressing a transgender student.

Because fundamentally given his religious beliefs he believes that there are only two genders. Which are biologically male and female. To say otherwise ie using the pronoun 'they' is going against his beliefs.

Of course he could pretend and address such individuals as 'they' or even use the person's surname. But Burke obviously feels to do so would be avoiding the issue and/or not true to his beliefs. Because he views this as a chance to make a point.

You say the teenager has not asked for any of this rubbish. Yes and no. Burke creating a fuss and the dragging the media attention into it must be an extremely pressurised situation.

But I assume the Teenager asked the Principal that henceforth they want to use the pronoun 'they'. And the Principal obliged and issued the formal pronoun dictate to the members of staff. To which Burke objected at a Public event.

If the principal never issued this dictate formally and just quietly made allowances for the student unofficially. Perhaps this furore could have been avoided. As I assume the student in question studies neither German or History.

Objectively, I see it as the Principal going against the Church of Ireland ethos of the Wilson Hospital School. An ethos which previously Burke obviously thought was close to his own beliefs.

The only thing Burke has done wrong thus far is ignoring court injunctions to stay away as he has been suspended on full pay. However, Burke views his suspension as contrary to his right of Freedom of Religion under A44 of the Constitution. Those are the facts of it as I understand it

Of course it is. As a person with no dog in the fight. Neither religious nor part of the transgender community I find the whole debate fascinating.

Especially, from a legal standpoint where there are conflicting rights. That is why I am following this thread. I want to see how it plays out. And if it will have any impact on future Jurisprudence, religious ethos of Irish schools etc regarding, transgenderism, discrimination, identity and so on. And how the religious bodies who are patrons of those schools react to it etc

Well actually Enoch is still the oldest living person. According to the bible he didn't die. He went straight from earth to heaven without death in between.

Well, as to things he has done wrong, you missed the one that started everything. The verbal assault and physical intimidation of the principal. Which is what he was suspended and then fired for. I'm not quite sure how given the facts that could be reasonably bent to fall under a violation of his Freedom of Religion. Unless being able to be abusive is a core tenant of his religion. If it is I haven't seen anything about it, though given his behavior and the behavior of his family it wouldn't actually surprise me.

Now he did have the opportunity to make it about his religious beliefs. But instead he chose to try and bully the principal into doing what he wanted, and then act shocked that there could be any consequences for his actions.

He is of course also no longer suspended. He has been fired. He is no longer employed by the school that he continues to attend in violation of a court order.

And while you see it as the principal of the school going against the CoI, I would imagine that if the CoI did they would have made it known by now. I haven't heard anything about it if they have.

Wow! He must be a good age now.

The school community generally; teachers, board, principals see no way in which this goes against the school ethos. Why are they all wrong?

This is the 'binary' aspect of it, apparently. If you're a decent tolerant person, you're woke. And if you're not...

The "overall picture" isnt what you think it is

You seem to be missing an important point from the above

WHS has clear policies. Its anti bullying policies and admissions policies are trans inclusive.

rv68-whsantibullyingpolicy2022.pdf (wilsonshospitalschool.ie)

gq26-2023_Admissions_Policy_Wilsons_Hospital_School.pdf (wilsonshospitalschool.ie)

Why is respecting a trans students request and supporting a trans student considered anti christian? Surely not supporting the student, not respecting the students wishes is lacking all Christian compassion. My trans friend went to an all girls convent. He was accepted by the Nuns when he came out as trans at 16. Its called compassionate Christianity.

That is generally well being and so on. But you miss the key point the CofI teaches there are two biological genders male and female. So it is incongruous. You seem to ignore the religious doctrine.

In fairness there has been moves to change it. But the CofI communication office double down on the teachings. After a CofI commission/debate claimed the contrary

‘However, the church’s central communications office has contradicted the commission, saying traditional church doctrine recognising only male and female people remains unchanged.’

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The way I see it Wilson Hospital either follows the teachings of Cofl or is not a de facto Church of Ireland school. It is then an a la carte school with only bits of CofI teaching.

Agreed principal could have made it vague with caveats - conscience of each staff member etc.

And instead yer man Burke is milking the situation for all it’s worth. The principal should have known what Burke is like and covered himself.

We know you think that, because I believe you don't disagree with Burke. You have defended him to the hilt in this thread.

As for no mention of not teaching the teen, I imagine if the school refused to use the correct pronouns, that would be "constructively dismissing" the child, as they wouldn't feel comfortable in the school and could sue for inequality.