Sunday morning is a good time to listen to the debate between Justin Trottier (Centre for Inquiry Toronto) and Patrick Dunne (Professor, King’s University College): “Be it Resolved Government Funding for Ontario Roman Catholic Schools be Abolished.”
However, be prepared; don’t let the civility of the moderator, Dr. Stephen Pitel, or the articulate and rational opening arguments delivered by Justin Trottier lull you into believing you are going to listen to a rational debate. Professor Dunne mumbles, but the mumbling is minor compared to the condescending attitude of Catholic privilege Dunne exudes. Dunne sounds like a Catholic priest admonishing a penitent in a pre-Vatican II confessional box. Professor Dunne is of the opinion that the question of whether the provincial government should stop funding Ontario Roman Catholic schools is so minor it is almost irrelevant:
Given the significant social issues we are faced with today, the funding of Catholic schools in Ontario pales in comparison. . . . In fact, there is little purpose in debating this topic other than in context of an interesting academic distraction.
My strong antipathy toward Catholic privilege and soothing hypocritical priestly voices prevented me from listening to more than 27 minutes of the debate. The fact that Professor Dunne can say that Catholic mandated homophobia and Catholic mandated human rights violations are not significant social issues beggars belief. Dunne is a dissembler who wants us to forget that the Catholic church, whose crimes against humanity go back thousands of years, is running a publicly funded school system that is responsible for educating the youth of Ontario.