Another cacophonous, divisive Day of Silence has come and thankfully gone, but it’s important to take a moment to reflect on the vitriol and deception promulgated by some of its supporters. It’s important because their deceitful words expose the dark underbelly of the movement well underway to use publicly funded schools to undermine conservative beliefs about homosexuality.
The homosexual blog Box Turtle Bulletin carried an article last week in which Timothy Kincaid spread pernicious lies about me. I don’t know Mr. Kincaid, so I don’t know if he has a limited capacity for following the logic of an argument or if he has a limited commitment to truth and an unwillingness to provide evidence for his defamatory claims.
What Mr. Kincaid’s article did provide of value, however, is evidence for my claim that for homosexualists like him and those who support the philosophical positions of GLSEN, there is no distinction between orthodox Christian moral claims about homosexual behavior and bullying.
In a stunning display of malicious, deceitful non-reasoning, Mr. Kincaid wrote the following about me:
“it’s quite clear that [Laurie Higgins] does not at all wish that the bullying of gay kids should end at all.”
“Higgins actually supports making schools unsafe for gay kids.”
“Higgins believes that adults – teachers and administrators – should also condemn gay kids.”
“[Higgins] believes it is a Christian kid’s duty to bully his gay classmates.” (boldface is Kincaid’s)
“[Higgins] endorses the . . . ridicule . . . of others.”
All of Mr. Kincaid’s nasty prevarication resulted from my very orthodox claim that Christians must affirm the entirety of Scripture which necessarily entails condemnation, which means strong disapproval, of volitional homosexual behavior. Nowhere in my writing and at no time in my life have I advocated bullying or ridicule of homosexual kids. I have never bullied a homosexual teen or endorsed such despicable behavior. I worked for the last ten years in a public high school and have never treated any student or colleague with anything other than congenial good will, civility, and respect. As a writing instructor, I have helped students strengthen their pro-same-sex “marriage” debates, and I have taken genuine pleasure in the company of diverse students, including students who self-identify as homosexual.
No conditions, volitional or non-volitional–not race, biological sex, religious affiliation, political affiliation, sexual “orientation,” “gender identity,” “gender expression,” intellectual ability, athletic ability, social skills, appearance, drug habits, alcohol habits, or sexual behavior–diminish my recognition that all are created in the image and likeness of God. Nor do any of those factors diminish the pleasure I take in people’s company or my respect for their myriad good qualities.
There is an important distinction between interacting with individuals and participating in public debates. Mr. Kincaid apparently doesn’t understand that distinction.
For example, I may believe that abortion or polyamory are profoundly immoral and may make those claims in public discussions, while at the same time deeply loving and interacting respectfully with my friends who have had abortions or identify as polyamorous. My claims about the immorality of abortion or polyamory do not constitute bullying of individuals.
In my interactions with individuals who identify as homosexual, I would never articulate my views about homosexuality unless the topic were introduced by them. If the topic were introduced by them, I would speak the truth graciously.
But one-on-one interactions with individuals are an entirely different ball game from addressing this issue in the public square. Once the judicial and legislative branches of government as well as public education are involved, it is ethically legitimate for all citizens to participate in the public discussion regarding what best serves justice and the common good.
If public school administrators and teachers insist on promoting a particular understanding of the nature and morality of homosexuality — which many are hell bent on doing — then they are compelling dissenting voices to speak out. Conservative views are not bigotry, and demanding that publicly funded schools allot equal time and commit equivalent resources to conservative views does not constitute bullying.
In fact, if conservative views are true, censoring them constitutes an act of incalculable harm. If conservative views are true, then using public money to affirm radical, subversive, ahistorical views to teens constitutes an unconscionable social injustice and one that no one committed to truth should countenance.
If school administrators refuse to allow traditional views of homosexuality to be studied in schools because they erroneously believe such views constitute bullying, then those administrators must remove the issue completely from public schools. Traditionalists have no interest in articulating orthodox Christian, Orthodox Jewish, Muslim, or non-religious conservative views on the nature and morality of homosexuality in public schools. The issue of homosexuality should be left to parents, churches, synagogues, mosques, and private organizations.
But if activists insist on keeping this issue alive and kicking in public schools by introducing activities, protests, curricular resources, panel discussions, speakers, and films that implicitly or explicitly espouse unproven theories on the nature and morality of homosexual behavior, public schools must spend equal time exposing students to equivalent resources and activities from opposing viewpoints. Public schools should neither condemn homosexual behavior nor affirm it.
Taxpayers need to understand that the anti-bullying efforts of groups like the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network are inextricably linked to destroying traditional beliefs about homosexuality. Day of Silence is not merely about ending bullying. It’s about ending bullying by eradicating the belief that homosexual behavior is immoral.
The truth is that public schools can find ways to curb bullying without addressing homosexuality. For example, students who engage in promiscuous behavior, particularly girls, are often called “sluts,” “skanks,” and “whores.” Public educators deplore such bullying, and yet even in the service of ending bullying they would never permit books, plays, films, days of silence, newspaper articles, essays, speakers, panel discussions, and “diversity” weeks to be employed in the service of transforming students’ views on the morality of promiscuous behavior. They would find ways to curb bullying of promiscuous teens without ever specifically addressing promiscuous conduct.
Mr. Kincaid’s hackles are likely raised at my comparison of homosexual behavior and promiscuous behavior because he views homosexuality and promiscuity as ontologically different. He views homosexuality as ontologically analogous to race and biological sex, and he views homosexual behavior as moral. But his views on the nature and morality of homosexuality are neither factual nor universally held. And public schools have no right to implicitly nor explicitly endorse them.
Conservative parents must understand that it is impossible to participate in the public debate about homosexuality without generating hostility. No matter how carefully you craft your words; no matter how much evidence you provide for your claims; no matter how kindly you interact with people; no matter how many times you affirm that the sin of homosexuality is no worse than the sin with which you struggle; no matter how many times you affirm that your words grow out of love rather than hate; if you dare to say that homosexual behavior is immoral and soul-destroying, you will be met with hostility, name-calling, and lies.
But if you allow those bullying tactics to silence you, your cowardice will result in the spread and intensification of pro-homosexual activism in our schools. In some states, it has already reached our elementary schools, and the goal of organizations like GLSEN and the Safe Schools Coalition is to have it in all government schools, from pre-schools through high schools.
If you care about children’s temporal and eternal lives, please oppose any anti-bullying efforts in public schools that imply that homosexual behavior is worthy of affirmation.
