School Expels Girl for Having Gay Parents
Stob wrote that school policy requires that at least one parent may not engage in practices "immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style, such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship."
Evidently having committed parents that have been together for 22 years doesn't count as a "positive Christian life style".
This is not Leonard Stob's first brush with homosexual issues and how they relate to Christian schools. I googled his name and turned up this article from when he was a superintendent in Florida:
Gay Problem at Christian Schools
In that article, he states how the school would not hire any staff who were openly gay.
Evidently, Christian warrior Leonard is going around the country purging Christian schools of gays. Too bad, there isn't someone to go around the country purging of it of narrow-minded bigots.
16 comments:
Well, if I were that couple, I wouldn't WANT my kid at such a closed-minded institution, teaching my kid to hate herself and her family... Good riddance.
That is such a loaded article. It left me asking so many questions. This gay couple have been together for 22 years. That's awesome compaired to straight couples that get divorced 50% of the time--or hollywood who's divorce rate is a mockery of marriage.
This article made me wonder, is that gay couple Christian? If yes--how do they interpret God's word about homosexuality?
It would be like a couple that are alcoholics--how do they reconcile God's word to not get drunk?
If they are not Christian--why are they sending their daughter to a Christian school?
The article says they have two other daughters 19 and 9. Where are those children attending school?
It has to be hard to be children of a gay marriage that send conflicting messages to their children. Yes we are Christians but we make excuses for our lifestyle or no we are not Christians but we want you to have the benefits of attending a Christian school.
There needed to be more information here.
All good questions. I do not know. I searched for more info but all I could find was the AP feed.
The school requires a that the family go in for an interview. How did they get past that? What was said at the football game to warrent this action?
Intollerance is one of the biggest reasons I left the church. When your life experiences begin to tell you truths that differ from your beliefs, it's time to get out. When I discovered that the folks I worked with and went to school with were far nicer people and better human beings than the ones I went to church with, it was time to rethink things, or more accurately, start to think about things.
Intollerance stems from fear and ignorance of the of the unknown. Which is why the worst racists usually those who have the least contact with other races. Those in power use our fears to control us. Which is why it is the interest of the church to keep folks fearful and suspicious. You lose your fear and they lose their power. Erich Fromm said it best. "90% of what goes on in churches has nothing to do with God. It has to do with power, who has it, who wants it."
Am I cynical, yes. My 50+ years of life experience have taught me to be that way!
Question for dbackdad. Do you believe in absolute truth or relative truth? If you believe in relative truth than how can you be critical of someone just because they don't believe what you do? If you believe in absolute truth than what makes you right and this person wrong?
You criticize someone for having a moral standard and standing up for it. Are you saying that this Christian school has no right to believe something that goes against your "morals" just because you and an ever changing sometimes minority sometimes slight majority believes that it is all right? That sounds like you are doing exactly what you are criticizing this person of doing, and yet you seem to have no problem with this. To criticise someone for being narrow-minded because they don't accept your beliefs points that problem right back at yourself.
Well said, GWB.
JC,
You used a classic Christian rhetorical device: if someone doesn't agree with your bigotry, then accuse them of being bigoted against you. Some Christians are always trying to make themselves out to be a persecuted minority in the US ... which is ludicrous. Our society is biased in your favor.
Your absolute moral code is not the moral code of the land ... though you would like it to be. Just because your church dictates that it's alright to descriminate based on sexual orientation does not mean that society does.
The absolute truth/relative truth argument has been exhaustively hammered on Jewish Atheist's blog and I'm not going to beat a dead horse. But suffice to say that I don't believe anything should be accepted on faith. Reason and facts guide me ... not mysticism. No society that judges people based on their sexual orientation, race, or religion will be a truly open society.
You used a classic Christian rhetorical device: if someone doesn't agree with your bigotry, then accuse them of being bigoted against you.
That is such a cop out. You minimize the reality of the logic and argument because you don't like it and expect others to agree. The reality is that if you are criticizing someone for being "narrow-minded" or "intolerant" because they don't accept your view and you don't want to tolerate it, you are being "narrow-minded" and "intollerant". You can minimize and justify it all you want, but that doesn't make it untrue.
By that logic, if I criticize Muslims or certain sects of the Mormon Church for polygamy, then I'm "intolerant" because I don't share their views? Or if I criticize Fundamentalist Christians at the Air Force Academy for practicing descrimination against Jews and non-Christians, then I'm being "narrow-minded"? Guilty as charged. Religion is not a free pass for bigotry.
By that logic, if I criticize Muslims or certain sects of the Mormon Church for polygamy, then I'm "intolerant" because I don't share their views? Or if I criticize Fundamentalist Christians at the Air Force Academy for practicing descrimination against Jews and non-Christians, then I'm being "narrow-minded"? Guilty as charged. Religion is not a free pass for bigotry.
Yup, you are intolerant and narrow-minded. Join the club. Every person in the world is. I would probably be criticizing them (the Morman Church etc.) for the same thing.
I'm hoping that next time you decide you want to rail on someone who holds a view different than yours, you will stop and think, "maybe i shouldn't criticize them by giving them loaded labels like 'narrow-minded' and 'intolerant' because they don't agree with my viewpoint". But then again you may just think "boy i hope i don't have another JC Masterpiece around here to give me a hard time about this."
There's nothing wrong with a little criticism once in a while. It keeps people humble, and it keeps them thinking. But, giving people loaded labels because they don't agree with your view, that's something else entirely. ;-)
When I discovered that the folks I worked with and went to school with were far nicer people and better human beings than the ones I went to church with, it was time to rethink things, or more accurately, start to think about things.
That's when i say that this may not be the right church for me. I've seen this in churches, sometimes dealing with it works, and sometimes you have to just find another church and let that one die the slow painful death that is inevitable.
True Christianity doesn't produce racism. That doesn't stop racists from becoming Christians, or claiming to be Christians for that matter.
By the way dbackdad, interesting article. When i read that it was from the World Socialist Web Site i knew that it was going to be heavily biased in one direction. However, it did lead to some thoughts and questions about the article.
It’s an evangelical versus everyone else thing
I'd have to say that it's more of an extremist evangelical vs. everyone else thing.
They are calling me a ... Jew and that I am responsible for killing Christ.
It always concerns me when extremists criticize Jews for being Christ killers because Christ, His 12 disciples, and Paul were all Jews. In fact, not a single book in the Bible was written by a gentile. If Jews are so bad, than why would God send His son to be a Jew.
Also, by their arguments all Italians (including myself) should be persecuted because it was Roman soldiers (the Italian brigaid) that actually beat Christ and hung Him on the cross to die.
There is a clear preference for Christianity at the academy, so that everyone else feels like a second-class citizen
Wow, someone else knows what it feels like to be a true Christian in a publically funded school (that is not excusing their behaviors).
A federally financed state-run military training school like Virginia Military Institute
So, who finances and runs this school then?
Quite the contrary, they may well see a nuclear holocaust as a religiously ordained and even desirable way of hastening the “end time.
Wow, someone has been reading a little too much of their own propaganda.
JC, I actually didn't even notice the article was from a Socialist website. You probably saw that heading and figured, "Oh boy, here commie dbackdad goes again!". It's just a coincidence, though. Funny, but a coincidence.
BTW, my admission of guilt was facetious. I will continue to call it like I see it. Descriminiation and racism are serious things to me and I'm not afraid to criticize whoever practices them ... religious or not. I'm not trying to pick on religious people. Like I've said before, my wife is a Catholic, my son goes to Lutheran pre-school and my grandfather until recently was a guest pastor throughout southwest Iowa. But, I will try to refrain from making any of my criticisms a personal attack or an attack on their faith. I will grant you that.
And I like you posting here. I'm not looking for sychophants (though I don't mind agreement).
And I like you posting here. I'm not looking for sychophants (though I don't mind agreement).
Actually, believe it or not, the comment on criticism "There's nothing wrong with a little criticism once in a while. It keeps people humble, and it keeps them thinking." was in support of you and your willingness to question things. I think more Christians should questions what their leaders say and whether it matches up with the Word of God. Too often Christians seem to think that it is the pastors job to study and build relationship with God and they are there just to sit back and enjoy the ride. Oftentimes that's what leads to the church becoming corrupt.
Sorry, i will stop preaching now.
You probably saw that heading and figured, "Oh boy, here commie dbackdad goes again!".
Actually, my thought was more along the lines of, "Wow, i'm surprised that dback is using this source. He seems to be getting a little sloppy here."
BTW, my admission of guilt was facetious. I will continue to call it like I see it.
I just ask that you keep in mind that narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and even stereotyping are tools that every person uses in their lives. In and of themselves they are not swear-words or even necessarily negative attributes.
I promise I'll get off religion for a little while. I've got some movie and book reviews on deck and I want to touch on some global warming stuff.
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