Must Be Spring, Day of Silence Derangement Syndrome is Breaking Out

On April 20, thousands of students will remain silent for part of the school day to call attention to anti-gay bullying and harassment. Called the Day of Silence, the event is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

In 2008, some Christian right organizations called on parents to keep their kids home on the Day of Silence. This is happening again this year.

The Day of Silence brings out some really odd statements from those opposed to it. One would think that sending your kids to school on that day is sinful. Take for instance this exchange, reported on Right Wing Watch, between Linda Harvey and Laurie Higgins:

Higgins: What the Day of Silence does is ask kids to refuse to speak during instructional time in class, that they have no legal right to do and no school has to accommodate that, and so that’s what we’re doing is asking parents to call their school, ask if students are allowed to refuse to speak in instructional time, and if they are, to keep their kids home in protest about the disruption of instructional time for a political purpose.

Harvey: You can keep your kids home that day if you suspect or you find out that teachers are going to accommodate this protest silence in order to honor homosexuality, let’s be clear about what this is, this is a God-dishonoring day that honors sin, sinful, immoral behavior that most parents don’t want their children involved in.

Higgins: Christian teachers out there and if you’re working in a public school plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this.

Laurie Higgins says the Day of Silence people promote kids remaining silent in class. While the organizers are fine with teachers who allow this response, GLSEN is clear that students do not have the right to remain silent if the class activities call on them to speak. Here is what the Day of Silence blog says about students and class room communication.

1. You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. If your principal or a teacher tells you otherwise, you should contact our office or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

2. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak. If you want to stay quiet during class on Day of Silence, we recommend that you talk with your teachers ahead of time, tell them that you plan to participate in Day of Silence and why it’s important to you, and ask them if it would be okay for you to communicate in class on that day in writing. Most teachers will probably say yes.

3. Your school is NOT required to “sponsor” Day of Silence. But Day of Silence is rarely a school-sponsored activity to begin with – it’s almost always an activity led by students. So don’t be confused – just because your school isn’t officially sponsoring or participating in Day of Silence doesn’t mean that you can’t participate.

4. Students who oppose Day of Silence DO have the right to express their views, too. Like you, they must do so in a civil, peaceful way and they only have a right to do so during non-instructional time. For example, they don’t have a right to skip school on Day of Silence without any consequences, just as you don’t have a right to skip school just because you don’t like what they think or say.

The irony is that Higgins and Harvey accuse the Day of Silence participants of violating school rules by remaining silent, and then turn around and urge truancy. Higgins and Harvey are fine with skipping an entire day of school, but become unhinged when those opposed to anti-gay bullying want to remain silent during non-instructional times.

I urge parents to resist Day of Silence Derangement Syndrome and send their kids to school on the Day of Silence (and even the misguided Day of Dialogue the day before). Send them to school and encourage them to become part of the solution via opposition to bullying. Students may want to remain silent, or take part in the Golden Rule Pledge which can take place any day of the year.

 

Who are the “real Christians?”

On Wednesday, a coalition of groups led by Linda Harvey, issued a press release titled, “Real Christians Say ‘No’ to Bullying and Homosexual Behavior.”

Clint McCance who thankfully will resign (click the link to read his remarks) from his post as the Vice President of the Midland, AR school district said that his views were based on his Christianity. Tonight, he apologized for his remarks on Anderson Cooper’s AC 360 news hour.

After the McCance interview, I saw the parents of Asher Brown interviewed who in their grief said they were praying for Clint McCance. They were devastated again by the remarks of McCance which were directed at the recent suicide victims on his Facebook page. Brown’s parents said they knew Asher believed he was gay and demonstrated unconditional love toward him.

Read the news release and note the attitude of the writer toward GLBT people. How does it come across to you?

Now consider people watching and reading and looking for some evidence of Jesus in the positions taken and the rhetoric offered by McCance, Asher’s parents and the “real Christians.”

It is actually offensive to me when a group suggests they are the “real Christians” so I will not engage in the same kind of rhetoric. My point is to wonder aloud what a watching world thinks about “real Christians” and if they are seeing Christ in any of us.

Linda Harvey supports Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Add another enabler and supporter of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexual Bill. Mrs. Mission America, Linda Harvey, says she has been involved in Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and that it has been mis-portrayed. In an interview after a recent speech in Gross Pointe Michigan, she was asked about Scott Lively’s involvement in the issue. The interviewer used the description, “kill gays bill” when Harvey stopped him, said she too has had involvement and claimed,

This has been mis-portrayed– and please clear this up. Uganda is criminalizing rape of children, and I think that a lot of people would say, hmmm, maybe death penalty for rape of children — heterosexually or homosexually….

Of course this is inaccurate and is itself a misleading assessment of the bill. She notes that her sources in Uganda tell her that the death penalty will be removed from the bill. Then she continues to say why she supports the bill.

The fact they are re-criminalizing homosexuality is (a) their business, (b) it is patronizing for white Westerners to be telling these folks — they are seeing George Soros funded gay groups going into Uganda. They are all through the schools, lots of promotion to kids. Poor kids, poor kids are being offered money and favors and gifts to have sex. That’s exploitation. That’s sex trafficking. And it’s being done mostly homosexually. By Western homosexuals coming in and trying to get involved in Uganda.

In addition to playing the race card, she says other interesting things in this interview. To wit, she thinks gay people fund Fred Phelps and she favors re-criminalization of homosexual behavior in the US, although she doesn’t know what the penalty should be.

Back to Uganda, while it is tiresome, I must again repost the actual language of the bill. The AHB would duplicate existing law regarding child abuse (defilement) but add specific language to outlaw homosexual behavior in Uganda with death for HIV positive people who engage in same-sex intimacy (touching, as defined in the law) and people who commit more than one offense. Life in prison is the penalty for all other intimacy involving same-sex partners. Don’t believe me, go read it here. Here are some relevant portions:

The object of this Bill is to establish a comprehensive consolidated legislation to protect the traditional family by prohibiting (i) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and (ii) the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Government entity in Uganda or any non governmental organization inside or outside the country.

And, in the definitions section:

“touching” includes touching—

(a) with any part of the body;

(b) with anything else;

(c) through anything; and in particular includes touching amounting to penetration of any sexual organ. anus or mouth.

And section 2:

2. The offence of homosexuality.

(1) A person commits the offence of homosexuality if-

(a) he penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption;

(b) he or she uses any object or sexual contraption to penetrate or stimulate sexual organ of a person of the same sex;

(e) he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.

(2) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

Note, no mention of children in section 2. Now the death penalty section:

3. Aggravated homosexuality.

(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality where the

(a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years;

(b) offender is a person living with HIV;

(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed;

(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed;

(e) victim of the offence is a person with disability;

(f) offender is a serial offender, or

(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,

(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.

(3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.

Section 3, line b and f is where the private consensual behavior could result in death. Arguably, line d could be construed as forbidding consensual relationships between a boss and a co-worker. I suspect the author intended some kind of sexual harassment but the way the bill is written, this is not clear. There are also sections criminalizing the intent to commit homosexuality and failure to report known homosexual acts with jail or fines as the penalties.

Now, let me issue a challenge to those who believe Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a good thing and is being mis-portrayed:

Put the bill on your website.

Link to it. Download this pdf of the Uganda Gazette publication. Here is a searchable pdf. Upload a copy to your website. To my knowledge, no supporter of the bill has done this. Isn’t that odd? If you support something, you should be glad for people to see it. Ssempa said he would over two weeks ago and has not done it. The Parliament has not done it. Bahati has not done it. Cliff Kincaid, Peter LaBarbera, Scott Lively, Linda Harvey; no one has posted the full text of the bill. Why not?

h/t- TWO

WorldNetDaily. Golden Rule Pledge. Day of Silence.

I couldn’t think of a good title for this one so I just assembled the players, so to speak.
Check out this Worldnetdaily article banging away at the Day of Silence and then scroll about half way down the page and check out the “popular poster used to promote the Day of Silence.”
I was saddened to see that Linda Harvey believes her efforts were successful. But I had to smile a bit to think that the Golden Rule Pledge card was considered a promotion for the DOS.
Maybe next year we’ll have t-shirts…