Chicago parents are concerned that a private Catholic school in the state is teaching "woke" ideology to its students despite contradictions to the Church's teachings.
Ethics & Public Policy Center scholar Noelle Mering is sounding the alarm over a Catholic school in Chicago that is reportedly teaching the youth "woke" ideology despite it contradicting the Church's teachings. She revealed how parents have grown concerned about critical race theory, which lessons are in stark contrast to the Catholic Church's teachings.
According to the Christian Post, Mering wrote an op-ed for The National Catholic Register, in which she pointed out how the "woke toxicity" of critical race theory is teaching students about the "rejection of the person, "rejection of reason," and "rejection of reverence." She argued, "The Christian message is that people are defined by the love of God, and the woke message is that people are defined by the hatred of society. From that implies two very different courses of action."
Contrary to the Gospel's message, which is to "spread the good news that we are loved," Mering explained that "woke" ideology pits individuals or groups of individuals against each others, teaching people that they are "hated or haters." The scholar argued that woke ideology is "fundamentally divisive and rather despairing ideology" that is somewhat of a "Trojan horse."
She explained that it "appeals to people's instincts to be compassionate and to fight real evils and injustices that do exist" but at the same time inserts "ideological poisonous bombs" that hinder people from creating a meaningful relationship with Christ.
Mering warned that woke ideology is spreading in American education institutions through a "top-down implementation of extreme 'antiracism' and gender ideology in the curriculum." According to the scholar, institutions such as the Chicago-area Loyola Academy, which fetches an annual tuition of $17,750, has hired "diversity consultants" to train faculty and students about "gender pronouns." Students are also taught about privilege, with working class students "bewildered" to find out that he or she is an "oppressor" just because of the color of his skin.
Parents at the school were so concerned and alarmed over the woke ideology infiltrating the school that they set up a website called kidswinloyola.com to raise awareness about the "growing crisis" that is the "adoption of an intolerant Identity Curriculum."
The parents wrote that there were several negative effects of the woke ideology curriculum, including the "indoctrination of students and faculty, verbal and cyberbullying of students, deterioration of school spirit and division among student groups, [and] increasing levels of anxiety, depression and isolation in students."
The Chicago school isn't the only one seemingly entrenched in woke ideology. The National Review reported that the Sacred Heart Network across up to 25 schools in the U.S. have fought their battle against critical race theory. Miami's Carrollton School is the same, with students reporting how "expressing opinions contrary to "woke" orthodoxy, especially on racial and sexual issues, was becoming impossible-even when these opinions aligned with Catholic teaching."
More and more parents and students are seeing the struggle with woke ideology and rightfully fighting back to uphold their freedom of expression, which is protected under the U.S. Constitution.
