Box Turtle Bulletin
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 lobbyJuly 9th, 2015
Toby Will wasn’t happy with the Obergefell ruling and wrote a letter to the Stockton Record to say so.
The Word of God is going forth with striking clarity and Divine accuracy. Man’s rebellion, ungodliness, and unrighteousness in rejecting the truth in order that he may live according to the vile and sinful passions of his corrupt heart is going to be met with the wrath of God.
And in the letter he whined about how persecuted he will be for writing the letter and how much God loves him for it.
Whoever speaks out against this blatant debauchery and dares to take a stand for the truth, will find themselves standing alone. But those who are willing to stand alone for the truth will find that God stands with them.
That’s a pretty mean spirited and self congratulatory letter, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Such rants are expected after controversial decisions.
But what wasn’t ordinary was the signature:
Toby Will
Lieutenant, Stockton Police Dept.
Modesto
Normally the Record would not include a place of employment or title, but Will insisted. (News10)
Stockton Record editor Mike Klocke said the newspaper generally prints only a letter writer’s name and city of residence, but that Will was insistent that his Stockton police affiliation and title be included.
Klocke said the letter from Will was accompanied by a personal note suggesting he knew the letter would generate controversy and perhaps even threaten his job.
“As a lieutenant in a moderate-sized police agency, I would like to be one voice that makes it very clear I operate from a biblical world view, not a pop cultural one,” Klocke quoted from the note included with Will’s letter. The note continued, “Though this may have a negative impact on an otherwise impeccable police career, I earnestly request that you print what I write.”
And it may well have a negative impact.
Will’s insistence that as a lieutenant in Stockton’s police department he operates with a view that gay people are vile and debauched sends a fairly clear message that he cannot interact with the public with professionalism and fairness. And that rightly concerns his employer.
“He does not speak for the Police Department, and regarding his use of his police position, it is under administrative review,” department spokesman Officer Joe Silva said Wednesday. Silva could not discuss what that administrative review might lead to.
After reading the letter, Police Chief Eric Jones made a call to the San Joaquin Pride Center “to reassure them that Will does not speak for the Police Department,” Silva said.
Jones and his department have invested time and energy in building a good relationship with the LGBT community. His officers receive sensitivity training and the police force is responsive to the community’s concerns.
Will obviously knows this. And he obviously knows that he was not authorized to use his title or position at in the police department to write letters that members of the public will find insulting and threatening.
My only conclusion is that Toby Will is tired of his job and wants to go on the martyr circuit instead.
But so far, the community isn’t calling for his firing. And I hope that they don’t.
The best way to treat self-righteous would-be martyrs is not to fire them but to find them a job that best suits their temperament. And if it turns out that Will violated department policy by attaching his name to his hateful screed, I’m thinking a demotion and a desk in a corner, away from the public, filling out paperwork is appropriate. In triplicate. With a number 2 pencil. In fluorescent lighting.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
BJohnM
July 9th, 2015
Maybe he was hoping to cashout with a big gofundme campaign if he got fired. So I agree, make him a parking enforcement officer.
gar
July 10th, 2015
Agreed. Well stated. A desk job would be best.
Soren456
July 10th, 2015
He should be fired.
Like those of the Atlanta fire chief, his statements can be used against him in court.
He has impeached any future testimony he may be required to give in defense of a discrimination suit against the city. That impeachment may one day cost the city millions in settlement money.
The city has an obligation to its citizens—the taxpayers—to recognize and to disarm threats to its financial well-being.
Will has emphatically gone out of his way to enter contentious territory in which a wrong step can be disastrous to his employer; he adds credibility to the case of any plaintiff who may sue the city for discrimination.
The city has an obligation to protect itself.
Lucrece
July 10th, 2015
Modesto, is anyone really surprised?
Richard Rush
July 10th, 2015
Instead of firing him, why not just transfer him to the marriage license bureau?
Ben in oakland
July 10th, 2015
More Christian exceptionalism, more self aggrandizement, more “I don’t have to obey the laws and policies established for everyone else”, more self righteousness more Christian exceptionalism, more self aggrandizement, more “I don’t have to obey the laws and policies established for everyone else” .
But not much of what I would call being a good Christian, let alone a good person.
This so-called good Christian is forgetting one thing, according to his own theology. We’re all doing the backstroke and sin. Everyone of us is a vile, debauched sinner. there is none righteous. No. Not one.”
Motes and beams, my “brother” in Christ. Motes andn beams.
Who said that? Obviously, someone who is no longer important to a good portion of what passes for Christianity, at least of the conservative variety.
Priya Lynn
July 10th, 2015
I initially didn’t care much one way or the other but I think Soren makes a good case that he should be fired.
Nick
July 11th, 2015
Do you think he’s eyeing a gig over at Faux Nooz, perhaps???
Des Moines
July 11th, 2015
I’m with Soren. You want to be a marytr? Fine. You’re fired. Congratulations. Spend the rest of your life eating out of dumpsters and preparing for that big high five from St. Peter when you get to the pearly gates.
The rest of us want people in positions of public power who will do their jobs.
Same goes for those asshole county clerks in Kentucky. If you’re willing to risk one of the only decent jobs in that area along with your pension and healthcare, fine. Fuck you and you’re fired. Have fun on Kentucky’s Obamacare. Get someone in there who will do the job.
They’d do the same thing if the positions were reversed and you know people like that in positions of power already do go after gay people when they discover them working under them.
Being a ‘good winner’ is small comfort to all the people still affected by christianist assholes in positions of power if we don’t get rid of the ones that we can when we are handed a chance. It’s a rare enough opportunity that we shouldn’t pass it up.
Leo88
July 12th, 2015
How much you want to bet that Will has Liberty Counsel and/or the Thomas Moore Center on speed dial? Test case they imagine?
Of course this letter has nothing to do with same-sex marriage and could have just as easily been written if Obergfull had been decided differently, but reason isn’t these people’s stronger suit.
What’s important is they create the impression that People Of FaithTM are being put upon by gay people getting married.
Raymond
July 12th, 2015
Has Lt. Will been involved in any cases where a conservative Christian bias has been influential?
This seems like a relevant research question.
Bill
July 16th, 2015
How come everyone but the Christian can have a voice. As Christians we love the homosexuals love enough to tell them if they don’t repent they along with other U repented sinners will spend eternity in HELl.
Priya Lynn
July 16th, 2015
Bill, if you loved gays you’d acknowledge that there aren’t any out there that haven’t heard that before and so you’re just attacking them with a message they’ve rejected.
Christians like you have bastardized the word love. When you say you love gays you don’t mean that you enjoy being around them, that they make you feel good and happy, you mean you’re angry at them and want to antagonize them.
Keep your “love” to yourself.
Timothy Kincaid
July 16th, 2015
Ah Bill, I can just feel the love of Christ oozing out of you.
I can always tell when someone REALLY loves me. It’s when they (try to) capitalize “Hell”.
Ben in oakland
July 16th, 2015
Or spell it, Timothy.
Meanwhile, bill, I do assume you’re going to Jewish and Muslim and Buddhist websites to tell them how much you love them, too.
Richard Rush
July 16th, 2015
Bill, there is only one word I can think of that is misused by Christians more than ‘love,’ and that word is ‘truth.’
Ben in oakland
July 17th, 2015
They are pretty good with all of the conjunctions, especially but.
Soren456
July 17th, 2015
Bill: Another Christian hissing his love for me.
Leave A Comment