Hutcherson Attracts Conflict Again

Timothy Kincaid

February 9th, 2008

UPDATED: See Below

Ken HutchersonRev. Ken Hutcherson is the senior pastor of a 3,500 member church in Redmond, WA. Hutch, as he’s called, was also a linebacker for the Cowboys, Chargers, and Seahawks in the mid 70’s. But what he’s best known for is as a vocal opponent of civil rights and equality for gay people.

Hutcherson is a founder of the anti-gay group Watchmen on the Walls, which has been known to justify violence and murder, he’s lobbied to overturn Microsoft’s anti-discrimination policies (including a bizzare scheme in which he encourages Christians to buy shares of Microsoft and give them to him), and most recently seemed to reject the Christian notion of loving gay people (“The Bible says when a sinner will not separate himself from a sin then he is condemned with it.”)

Hutcherson’s beliefs are not a secret. But somehow the principle of Mt. Si High School in the Snoqualmie Valley either did not know or did not care about Hutch’s very vocal and visible campaign to reinstate legal discrimination against gay folks in Washington State. So he invited Rev. Hutcherson to come speak at the school’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly.

Hutcherson, whose daughter attends the school, did not speak about his homophobic social activism but instead discussed growing up black in Alabama.

But some students and teachers were shocked that such a vocal opponent of gay civil quality would be brought in to talk about civil rights on a day recognizing King’s contributions. One teacher booed when Hutcherson was announced and another teacher asked Hutcherson at the end of his presentation how he could claim to speak about civil rights when he so actively opposed them for gay people. Hutch got offended.

The principle sent out a public apology to Hutcherson and gave each of the two teachers a “letter of discipline” in their permanent files.

Well this event has stirred up a firestorm in the community. The assembly has now been the subject of two contentious School Board meetings. Some parents are furious that any teacher should voice their “personal and political views” while others are angry that the administration would not support the teachers who stood up to bigotry. Hutcherson’s wife, Jan, claimed at the meeting that the beliefs of Hutcherson have resulted in the family being “boldly called names like ‘bigot’, ‘homophobe'”.

But as the event was scheduled on his birthday, I can’t help but wonder why no one is asking what Dr. King would have done had he been in attendance.

UPDATE:

Good-As-You brought to our attention a letter that Hutcherson wrote to his church:

Saturday, 09 February 2008

Dear Church,

Last night at the Snoqualmie Valley School Board Meeting, the teachers supportive of the Gay Straight Alliance drew a line in the sand, and I am stepping over it. I spoke to the Superintendent this morning and he promised, “…it’s for the children.”

I said I want him to protect my daughter and I want Kit McCormick removed from the classroom.

Another teacher at the meeting last night, George Potratz, said that if I am trying to repeal rights for gays, he thinks we should start a movement to bring back slavery.

Mr. Potratz does not deserve to be on the faculty of the school and should be fired immediately. Over the next few days, I will be talking with the School Board and the school officials.

My theme will be a line from a Pink Floyd song, “Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!”

In response to what happened, one of our members, Steve Dudgeon, wrote the following letter: Click here to read!

Pastor Hutch

I find it very disturbing that this man is trying to bully the school into firing a teacher for simply asking him a question at a school assembly. Does he really think that getting someone fired for disagreeing with you is remotely “Christian”?

The letter is even more laden with martyrdom language. Hutch and his congregation believe that they are the victims whenever those whom they are attacking stand up to them.

I was amazed at the vitriol and hatred shown by several pro-gay rights teachers toward us as Christians. They hate our guts.

In some rather strange parable about bull fighting, Dudgeon argues that a Christian is to go into a bull ring and wave a red flag. If the bull charges, the Christian demands that the owner of the bull build a smaller ring.

Oddly enough, I think that pretty well describes Hutcherson’s attitude and approach.

Suricou Raven

February 9th, 2008

This incident got quite a lot of reporting in the Christian media and right-leaning places.

In their version, its a story about how the leftists are so hateful of free speech they wont even let a Christian speak without shouting him down :>

John

February 9th, 2008

I always find it ironic that bigots get so offended when they are called bigots. If they are so ashamed of their actions, perhaps they should end their bigotry, rather than getting upset when someone rightly calls them a bigot.

Fiona

February 10th, 2008

I’m concerned about the teachers who stood up and did the right thing. Will they be hounded out of their jobs? How homophobic is the school principal and the school board?

Ephilei

February 11th, 2008

In answer, King’s wife Coretta Scott King said he would whole heartedly support LGBT rights and she has been actively giving her own support. However, King himself did not speak publicly about. Of his two daughters, one acts for gay rights and one against.

Suricou Raven

February 11th, 2008

‘All I am saying is that gays are inherently inferior and immoral because of who they are, are not fit to work alongside good heterosexual people and should be segregated so they dont contaiminate us with their sinful perversions. I am absolutly nothing like a racist at all. Its completly different, because gays actually choose to be gay, and could be un-gay if they would just give up their addition to buttsex.’

notreligiousbutmw

February 25th, 2008

I’m not a religious person, but I agree with Reverenda Hutcherson. I see something wrong with men having sex with men & women having sex with women. I also share Reverend Hutcheson’s view in seeing something wrong with sex changes & believe in abolishing them. Reverend Hutcheson is right when he has said that a boy can’t become a girl & vice versa, because it’s the same as trying to make a Black person white, because they have ethnic dysphoria.

Before continuing, contrary to what Jim Burroway & Mike Airhart have said, most married couples do not engage in oral sex & sodomy. They only engage in straight normal activity (penis entering vagina). Though many married couples do engage in oral sex & sodomy, many incl. myself as of 2005 believe that they must cure this as well & limit it to straight normal activity only.

I don’t care if you call me a bigot because I agree with Reverend Hutcheson. I’m proud of the fact that I’m against sex changes & I’m proud to be called a homophobe. What I find rude is when rather than asking me if I’m religious, you automatically say that I base my beliefs on religion. Please ask before you presume. While I’m not an atheist, you don’t have to be religious to agree with Reverend Hutcheson.

Reverend Hutcheson is pro-life, but I’m pro-choice. I wrote on another forum the reason I’m pro-choice-if there was a device built in the future which could predicted that an unborn baby would be born handicapped, would engage in homo&lesbian sexual activities or would have Gender Dysphoria (GID), then yes, I would abort it. If I had no arms & legs, tehn I wouldn’t want to be born.

I don’t hate homosexuals & lesbians, but the world is a better place w/o homosexuality & w/o GID. Reverend Hutcheson doesn’t hate homosexuals, but he is against their sexual behaviors. I realize my comments will offend you, but given that I see something wrong with certain sexual activities & GID, I believe in curing it & as does Reverend Hutcheson. Whether homosexuality & GID is the result of genes, biology or learned behavior are sideissues. My belief is finding a cure for it, regardless of what causes it.

You decry Reverend Hutcheson, who has to be consistent with his religious faith. Reverend Hutcheson must condemn same sex activities for the same reason that a Hindu priest should condemn beefeating. Incidentally I’m a vegetarian. In justness to Rev. Hutcheson & other Christian ministers, they opposed homosexuality, long before discussions arose over the causes. It’s unjust to ask Reverend Hutcheson to change his views, just as it’s unjust to ask a Hindu to change his views on cows.

While I’m not an expert on repair therapy, Reverend Hutcheson believes in it & honestly, the efficacy of repair therapy is another sideissue, because homosexual groups against it no matter what the efficacy is. Also tennis legend Martina Navratilova (though not cited here) has not usu. been critiqued for her selectiveness in protesting animal cruelty. Martina Navratilova protested experiments to make gay sheep straight on the grounds it’s animal cruelty, yet I haven’t heard Martina Navratilova protest sex change maimings which were 1st done on animals & many animals died cruel deaths in these maimings incl. the hormone shots. Martina Navratilova is against the experiments to make gay sheep straight because if they did discover the cure for animal homosexuality, then repair therapists will use animal studies to find the cure for human homosexuality, though the experiments to make gay sheep straight is incidental to repair therapy. But if Martina Navratilova really cares about ending animal cruelty, then she’ll support abolishing sex changes.

The mainstream press usu. bashes Reverend Hutcheson, as does this site, because most of them differ with what he says. The press incl. BTB usu. look the other way @ Martina Navratilova’s selectiveness on animal cruelty, because they agree with her ideologically.

I know my comments will offend you, but I wanted to raise something which the mainstream press usu. doesn’t raise. Critiquing religious people such as Reverend Hutcheson doesn’t require any courage. It isn’t as if anything being written by you raise anything new. It has been my observation that the same posters visit other sites such as Dr. Throckmorton & rehash the same things that they post here regarding Reverend Hutcheson. It does require audacity to defend Reverend Hutcheson’s view. Once again, I’m not religious, but I share Reverend Hutcheson’s views for reasons unrelated to religion.

notreligiousbutmw

February 27th, 2008

A final thought regarding Rev. Ken Hutcherson. As he is a Black man, he finds it insulting to have Blacks compared to homosexuals & transexuals. Blacks he would say are a group based on ethnicity, while homosexuals are a group based on sexual behavior, even if attractions don’t change. Transexuals are a group based on being maimed & mutilated by their Dr.

I support Rev. Hutcherson’s right to speak @ a public school because it would be a nice to hear some1 who sees something wrong with homosexuality & transeuxality speak instead of the same predictable proselytizing that groups like PFLAG do. OK, discussing religion in a public school does break Federal law surrounding separation of Church&State. But even if Rev. Hutcherson did discuss Christianity & I’m not a Christian (thank God I’m not Jewish), then so what? I want Rev. Hutcheson to say something in a public school which will anger Timothy Kincaid & Jim Burroway.

William Rogers RN

July 16th, 2009

WOW< hard to believe there are still so many cretins and unevolved peopoe in the world. I agree Ken Hutcherson has the right to say what he want to say, but he DOES NOT have the right to have a say in how we govern America- that would be tantamount to setting up a state church. While I abhor his beiefs , and those of most of the cretinous posts above- what more can one say, that this group is part of the groups that Jesus so vehemently condemned for their straining at a gnat while swllowing a camel- how IS that camel guys?

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