A schoolteacher who refused to use gender-neutral pronouns for a transgender student because of his Christian faith has been sent to prison for contempt of court.
Enoch Burke was arrested yesterday morning for breaching a court order not to teach at his Westmeath school in Ireland.
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Mr Burke told the judge: ‘Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school.’
After Judge Michael Quinn made his ruling, Mr Burke said: ‘It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs.’
MailOnline report: Counsel for Wilson’s Hospital School’s board of management said it was with a ‘heavy heart’ that it sought Mr Burke’s committal to prison, but she said her client had been left with no choice as Mr Burke continued to attend the school, despite the court order which it had obtained last week.
The dispute began over his refusal to address a transitioning student as ‘they’ rather than ‘he’, as requested by the student and their parents in May, and agreed to by the Church of Ireland school.
This escalated to his suspension on the day before the start of the autumn term, pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.
He had refused to remain away from the school on paid leave for that suspension, the court heard, and would sit in an empty classroom, declaring that he was there to work.
Mr Burke told Judge Quinn: ‘I am a teacher and I don’t want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that’s where I was this morning when I was arrested.’
He said he loved his students, to whom he teaches German, history and politics, as well as debating.
‘I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.’
He added: ‘Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school.’
Referring to his suspension, Mr Burke said: ‘It is extraordinary and reprehensible that someone’s religious beliefs on this matter could ever be taken as grounds for an allegation of misconduct.
‘My religious beliefs are not misconduct. They are not gross misconduct. They never will be. They are dear to me. I will never deny them and never betray them, and I will never bow to an order that would require me to do so. It is just not possible for me to do that.’
He described his suspension as ‘unreasonable, unjust and unfair’. He added: ‘There has been a dumbing down of the seriousness of suspension. It is a serious step.
‘It has tarnished my good character and my good name, particularly in the profession of a teacher, where one is so close to a large number of members of the local community. It leaves a stain on what has been, for me, an unblemished teaching record.’
Mr Burke said he had a wonderful relationship with his pupils, who knew him as a man of ‘professed morals and convictions’.
He asked how he could return to school and bow to something he believed to be ‘manifestly wrong’, which he also described as a ‘violation of my conscience’. Mr Burke told the court that he believed that ‘around this country, teachers are being forced to participate… they are being forced to use the pronoun “they” instead of either “he” or “she”.’
Rosemary Mallon BL, for the board of management, told Judge Michael Quinn that her client had no choice but to ask the court to send Burke to prison for breach of a court order.
‘It is a coercive order we are seeking, not a punitive order. We are simply seeking to have Mr Burke comply with the order.
‘...Mr Burke is knowingly in breach of this order, he is therefore in contempt and he has made it clear that if he is not committed to prison he will attend at the school [today], and the concerns of the school regarding the ongoing disruption to the students remain,’ she added.
She noted that Mr Burke could make his arguments at court tomorrow, when the injunction obtained last week is due to be reviewed, and at the school’s disciplinary hearing this month.
Baxter Dmitry
Email: baxter@thepeoplesvoice.tv
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The Irish spent too many centuries fighting each other instead of jointly fighting against tyranny.
My husband and I are both of Irish descent and have studied Irish history – we wholeheartedly agree with you. Very sad. Same with the Scots, clans fought each other instead of England.
They fought as the green and the orange. The Vatican and the Protestants and since the Catholics won now the young don’t even know the truth about the matter.
The church of Ireland is PROTESTANT..
It’s a CAMP, just like in Germany in 1935. a place where people go for speaking their minds.
It goes right back to the Spanish inquisition. The nazis came from there.
And the Rockefeller too, from the Spanish inquisition.
The Rockefeller’s were Jewish inside Spain in the 15th century.
i guess I should never try and get into the UK, they would execute me for what I have said.
Probably so. I know I’d be thrown in jail. Yesterday I was perma-banned from posting on UK Daily Mail for trying to post a Biblical truth. There was no warning, no nothing, just an e-mail saying I’d broken “community guidelines”. I’ve been posting online for over twenty years and that’s the first time I’ve ever been banned anywhere.
Yes they hate the truth It’s not the daily mail staff it’s the third party that moderates their site who break all of their own rules, let commenter break all of thejr rules let trolls attack people everything but ban people who haven’t broken any of their rules, just because they hate the truth.
The UK daily mail is Viscount Rothermeres like most English media are He’s very secretive It’s not a government owned paper It isn’t the UKs. Its his. And the moderators who control the comments section are totally secretive.
“Nothing that is done in secret comes from God” The Bible says.
Don’t flatter yourself Your not a holy martyr. The Pope’s it going to make you Saint josey of the CIA.
probably
What perverted pigs think up such sick strategies to divide society and drive people apart?
It’s time to get back at those NGOs and their disgusting members!
Just want to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your publish is just great and that i can think you’re knowledgeable on this
subject. Well with your permission let me to seize your RSS feed to stay updated with impending
post. Thank you a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
Because its all from the Pope really. That’s why he’s in jail That’s why transgender are protected by the law.
I guess they don’t have free speech in Ireland? I’m a woman but that don’t mean you have to call me one. These people have taken to much control
Proving once again that the cabal has many corrupt judges all over the world. Our rights come from our Creator, not from the govmt.
He is another William Penn, this time in Ireland
He was arrested for trespassing.