Here is a report from today’s “Daily Mail” of a Christian jailed because he would not conform to the demands of the ‘transgender’ lobby in the Church of Ireland school in which he was employed.
He was absolutely right in his refusal. For that he will likely stay in jail until he recants or mercy is shown to him by the courts.
I cannot agree with him being in the employment of the Church of Ireland, an ecumenical, theologically liberal, Christ-denying, union with Rome seeking denomination which, in truth, takes no stand on the issue of female ‘ministers’, sodomy and ‘transgenderism’!
He might well have expected that such a situation would arise when he affiliated with a Church of Ireland establishment.
Long before any Republic of Ireland court ruled that he should not enter the Church of Ireland school premises, the Lord ruled: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty,” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
However, his actions are brave and we should pray for him that the Lord would wonderfully, to His own glory, intervene in this affair.
There will be further like cases in every sphere of society as the Truth of God is more and more abandoned and opposed.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
‘I love my school but I am here today because I would not call a boy a girl’: Teacher who refused to use student’s gender-neutral pronouns condemns ‘insanity’ as he is JAILED in Ireland
- Enoch Burke was arrested yesterday morning for breaching a court order
- The order barred him from teaching or being present at his Westmeath school
- 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
- He was later suspended, and refused to stay away from the school
- After the ruling, Mr Burke said: ‘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’
By Helen Bruce Courts Correspondent For The Irish Daily Mail
Published: 07:42, 6 September 2022.
A teacher who refused to use gender-neutral pronouns for a transgender student has been sent to Mountjoy prison for contempt of court.
Enoch Burke was arrested yesterday morning for breaching a court order not to teach at his Westmeath school, or be physically present there.
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.’
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.
Teacher Enoch Burke (pictured on Monday being brought into the Bridewell Garda station in Garda custody) was arrested yesterday morning for breaching a court order not to teach at his Westmeath school, or be physically present there.
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.’
Enoch Burke (pictured) refused 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
Enoch Burke (second-left) 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. Pictured: Kezia Burke, Enoch Burke, Isaac Burke, and Ammi Burke in Dublin in 2021, outside the Four Courts. At the time, the siblings were fighting a religious discrimination case
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.
Enoch Burke (pictured centre with his brother Isaac receiving a SCCUL Enterprise Student Award in 2013) 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’
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. Pictured: Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, Ireland
‘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.
Judge Quinn said he was not ruling on the merits of Mr Burke’s arguments regarding his religious belief or his suspension, but merely on the question of whether there had been a wilful breach of a court order.
He said that Mr Burke could purge his contempt at any stage, by agreeing to the order not to attend the school or attempt to teach there.
Mr Burke was accompanied to court by four gardaí, his father Seán and brother Isaac.