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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyOctober 5th, 2010
Focus on the Family, and those who fear “the homosexual agenda,” tend to oppose anti-bullying programs that include specific curricula which seeks to counter-act anti-gay bullying. They fear that it contributes to the “normalization of homosexuality” and in a perverse distortion of “faith” they give this fear a far higher importance than the physical well-being of the children.
However, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a conservative evangelical Christian who advocates for a conservative sexual ethic, advises evangelicals to reconsider their priorities (CNN):
As a traditional evangelical, I may have some differences of opinion with my gay friends. However, such ideological differences don’t matter to a middle school child who is afraid to go to school.
There are many such children who need adults to care more about their well being than about religious differences. Adults need to focus on common values of respect and civility and take the culture war off the school campus.
Throckmorton reminds fellow Christians that their role in society is to protect the oppressed and that Christians should be part of the solution, not contributing to the problem.
It seems to me that people of faith should lead the way in providing safe and respectful environments for all. To do this, you have to be there and you have to name the problem to solve it.
Let’s hope the Church is listening.
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Chris McCoy
October 5th, 2010
Unfortunately, too many Christians like Focus on the Family, name homosexuality as the problem they want to solve.
Until this basic disconnect is resolved, little progress can be made.
Bernie
October 5th, 2010
Chris, Yes it would have been nice if he could have been more direct, but look on the bright side, at least ONE of them has the testicular fortitude to stand up and be a true Christian.
GreenEyedLilo
October 5th, 2010
Thank you, Dr. Throckmorton. I think more conservative Christians will be inclined to reject him as “sold out to the enemy” than to listen to him, but I’d love to be wrong about that. I’d love to believe that more will feel like Dr. Throckmorton, and consider how to help these kids!
Richard Rush
October 5th, 2010
Although Throckmorton is still not an ally, he has been evolving for awhile now, and has taken some risks among the ideologically pure crowd for his independent thinking. He’s taken some heat for it, especially from the purest of the pure, Peter LaBarbera, who has written several posts severely chastising him for his increasingly impure thoughts.
John
October 5th, 2010
Not sire that “pure” and Labarbera belong in the same sentence.
Amicus
October 5th, 2010
…but…but…you can’t FUNDRAISE around helping the oppressed! LOL.
Meanwhile, one has to chuckle at idea that anti-bullying programs not mention ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’.
It’s sort of like implying that the 10 commandments, say, could be boiled down to one: do good and avoid evil.
One big problem is that the Conservatives spend all their time resisting ‘teaching gay’, rather than thinking about, ‘if we were to talk about it, how could it be done to affirm but not encourage’ (the experimentation that they all fear). I think that’s where the compromise lies, rather than in either/or.
BobN
October 6th, 2010
Uh… “taking the culture war off the school campus” would mean us leaving that battleground as well.
No way.
cytyger
October 7th, 2010
Unfortunately there is no way that the Christian right will ever see the schools as anything but the main battlefield when it comes to their war on homosexuality. Their own book says “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” In their world view, they have to get to the children and make them believe that homosexuality is wrong so that they will never see it as anything but a destructive lifestyle. I grew up in churches like this and I can guarantee you that they would see a retreat from the school campus as conceding defeat in the entire culture war and sacrificing all children to the “homosexual agenda”.
justsearching
October 7th, 2010
“Throckmorton reminds fellow Christians that their role in society is to protect the oppressed and that Christians should be part of the solution, not contributing to the problem.”
Good luck with getting that message through to those who need to hear it. The churches I know certainly aren’t listening. The people in the churches I know think “we” are the problem and that we are oppressing them.
BlackDog
October 8th, 2010
I fail to see how even they can believe the “Help, Help, I’m being oppressed” line they’re spouting when Christians are, what 70% of the population?
Or are they referring only to Evangelicals or Fundies? Still, even if you cut it down to the 11% figure (for Tea Baggers) that I saw last week…that’s too much political power there for them to legitimately claim oppression in my opinion.
That’s not even considering their behavior…which historically tends to be that of oppressOR not OppressED.
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