For decades homosexual and “trans” activists have used schools to indoctrinate children with the disordered and destructive “LGBTQ” ideology. Thirteen years ago, the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education published an article titled “Trans-Friendly Preschool” by now-ordained Rev. Laurel A. Dykstra, a “bisexual Christian activist” who has twins via a sperm donor. I wrote about her article for IFI in 2008—a decade ago. Here are some of Dykstra’s ideas for training up children in the way they should go:

• She said that the “gender binary system…. is harmful to everyone.”

• She moralized that “It is not enough for classrooms, teachers, and schools to be ‘open’ or ‘non-judgmental’; they need to be actively trans-positive.”

• Dykstra recommended that when talking to preschoolers, teachers should say things like “‘Well, most men have penises, but some don’t,’” and “‘Some girls grow up to be men.’”

• She urged teachers to “Encourage kids to question their assumptions. ‘How do you know that that person is a woman? Could a man wear a dress?’”

• She instructed teachers to “Call children by the name and the pronouns they choose.”

• She recommended accessorizing classrooms with a “Tranny Teddy. Have a non-gendered toy/doll/puppet…. Do not use pronouns and give this creature a variety of gendered clothing, such as a skirt and tie. If asked, say ‘Oh, Binker isn’t a boy or a girl.’”

• She suggested having a “Butch/Femme Day. Why not teach kids language like butch/femme, as an alternative to boy/girl or male/female? You could have dress-up days to play deliberately with gender, like ‘Fabulous and Fearless Day’ or ‘Capable and Campy.’”

• She encouraged teachers to “Invite a drag performer or transsexual person who would be willing to share their story and a photo album.”

• When reading picture books to preschoolers, Dykstra recommended “switching pronouns, avoiding them altogether, or using alternative pronouns.”

• Dykstra rationalized using deceit in the face of parental opposition: “For ‘stealth practitioners’ (i.e., teachers in a transphobic setting), these classroom suggestions can be implemented without fanfare to create a more just and welcoming classroom.”

Remember, these recommendations were made 13 years ago, and we now have drag queen story hours for toddlers in public libraries. This is what happens when we ignore warnings and succumb to peer pressure and cowardice.

The efforts of sanctimonious and arrogant “LGBTQ” activists to “queer” schools are not limited to preschools. Illinois lawmakers captivated by bad ideas in general and in thrall to the “LGBTQ” ideology are pushing a bill that would require teachers to discuss the disordered homosexual and biological-sex-rejecting predilections of anyone who has contributed something noteworthy to culture. This is a tricksy way of transferring the good feelings children and teens have about achievements to homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation—which is the ultimate goal of LGBTQ activists. Only California has a similar law.

Someone should ask lawmakers why this bill is limited to the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators. Why doesn’t it mandate discussions of the roles and contributions of polyamorists or the “trans-abled”? “Trans-abled” persons identify as disabled persons and wish to bring their bodies into alignment with their subjective, internal, “felt” sense of being disabled. They often want a limb amputated. What about “Minor-Attracted” persons, those who experience “Genetic Sexual Attraction,” and those who experience all manner of paraphilias, like sadomasochists, fetishists, infantilists, and voyeurs. If homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators are entitled to see people who share their experiences represented in curricula, shouldn’t children and teens who experience other powerful, persistent, unchosen feelings see people who share their experiences  represented positively in curricula?

Oh, but that’s not all. Schools also allow activities—including protests—created and promoted by outside “LGBTQ” activist organizations to disrupt instructional time. The queen of all classroom-invading protests, the Day of Silence, takes place this Friday, April 27 in thousands of high schools and middle schools across the country.

The Day of Silence is a protest organized and promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which urges students to refuse to speak all day on Friday—including during class—in support of all things homosexual and “trans.”

In response to this usurpation of public schools for a partisan political protest, a national coalition of almost 50 pro-family activists and organizations, including the Activist Mommy, American Family Association, Capitol Resource Institute, Minnesota’s Child Protection League, Coalition of African-American Pastors, Dr. Michael Brown’s Coalition of Conscience, Concerned Women for America, Illinois Family Institute, Liberty Counsel, MassResistance, and Mission America are urging parents to keep their children home. The Day of Silence Walkout (which is not technically a Walkout) has been taking place for over a decade.

There are three major reasons to keep your children home on the Day of Silence:

1.)  To remove your children from exposure to yet more corrupt ideas and coercive social pressure.

2.)  To communicate to administrators, faculty, and school board members that if they allow instructional time to be disrupted—and yes, refusal to speak disrupts instructional time—your children will not be present.

3.)  To prevent political protests from metastasizing in government schools.

Efforts like the Day of Silence are not solely or centrally about ending bullying. These efforts are intended to eradicate moral distinctions between right and wrong sexual behavior and to mainstream homosexuality and the “trans” ideology. One can oppose both bullying and the Day of Silence.

Efforts like the Day of Silence, the school sexuality-indoctrination bill, and Dykstra’s recommendations for “transing” preschools are about using public monies and captive audiences of children to transform their moral and political views. That is not the role of government employees. The presupposition on which all of these efforts are based is that homosexual activity and opposite-sex impersonation are moral, which is an arguable belief—not an objective fact.

To find out more about the Day of Silence Walkout and see a complete list of coalition partners, go to the Day of Silence Walkout website.

I will conclude with what I wrote in 2008:

No civil society, let alone those who claim to be followers of Christ, would countenance such evil being perpetrated on our most innocent. The ideas articulated by Dykstra [and GLSEN and the school sexuality-indoctrination bill] constitute not education but unconscionable educational malpractice.

Virtually every cultural institution—from our churches to our courts to our legislatures to our news media to our entertainment industry to our government schools—has been commandeered by homosexuals and those who support their destructive cultural agenda. Those who hold traditional Judeo-Christian values must boldly and tenaciously oppose through word and deed efforts to normalize homosexuality and the “trans” ideology, including in government schools that our taxes subsidize.

If ever there was a time for weeping, it is now. If ever there was a time for righteous indignation, it is now. If ever there was a time for uncompromising courage, it is now.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Queering-Schools-Just-Say-No.mp3

Worldview Conference May 5th

Worldview has never been so important than it is today!  The contemporary culture is shaping the next generation’s understanding of faith far more than their faith is shaping their understanding of culture. The annual IFI Worldview Conference is a phenomenal opportunity to reverse that trend. This year we are featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet on Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Reason #__ (oh, heck, I’ve lost count) for grabbing your kids and fleeing public schools: “teachable moments” and out and proud homosexuals in legal but fake marriages.

Seeing a big front-page Chicago Tribune photo of 30-year-old homosexual hipster Nathan Etter, who teaches music at Prairie View Grade School in Elgin, with a wee little boy holding Etter in a bear-cub hug was not a good way to start Wednesday. I should clarify: the little tyke appears to be a boy. I guess it could be a girl or a human who rejects the binary.

The photo—obviously designed to pull on the heartstrings of readers before they read—accompanies the story of Etter, whose “husband’’ sent him a bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day, which, Etter evidently placed where his first-grade students could see it. When some 7- year-old kids asked if the flowers were from his wife, Etter said no, they were from his husband. According to the Trib, Etter “answered honestly,” to which some students responded equally honestly, saying “ewww” and “gross.”

Etter then jumped on this “teachable moment,” which I’m sure caught him totally off-guard (yeah, riiight), to give a Leftist lesson on “respect, tolerance,” and the existence of families led by “two moms” or “two dads.” He offered this chastisement/instruction to his young charges: “‘Oh no, friends, we’re not going to have that response, because that’s not showing respect.’”

Which is a greater offense: young children expressing disapproval of homosexual relationships or an adult homosexual teacher affirming his homosexual relationship to young children in a classroom and shaming young children for their disapproval of it?

In the service of inclusivity, respect, and tolerance, I wonder why Etter didn’t mention families led by 3, 4, or 5 persons of assorted sexes (i.e., polyamorous families). Does his silence reflect his judgment that some family structures are not moral and not worthy of respect? Does his silence reflect his belief that not all loving relationships should include sex? Does his silence reflect his belief that young children ought not be exposed to all types of relationships that exist? Or was his silence just an oversight that at some teachable moment in the future he’ll correct?

“Respect” means to hold in esteem. It should go without saying that no one has a moral or ethical obligation to respect homosexual acts, homosexual relationships, or same-sex faux marriage. In fact, Christians have a moral obligation to disapprove of all three. Homosexual activity and relationships dishonor those involved in them, marring the image of God imprinted on humans. Same-sex faux marriage is marriage de jure (in law) only. A union of two people of the same sex can never in reality be a marriage because marriage is something. It has a nature that we don’t create. We merely recognize a type of relationship that exists. The law can no more change an intrinsically non-marital union into a marriage than it could change a whole person into 3/5 of a person.

Does Etter demonstrate respect for those families who not only believe that homosexual acts and relationships are immoral but who also believe it is their duty to protect their children from exposure to ideas they believe are age-inappropriate?

The children who responded correctly—albeit politically incorrectly and indelicately (they were seven years old, after all) were not saying Etter is gross. They were expressing their proper feelings about Etter’s improper relationship.

It’s a grievous abuse of power for an arm of the government (i.e., public schools) or a government employee paid by taxpayers to teach other people’s children that they ought to hold in esteem homosexual relationships or same-sex faux-marriage. Government employees have no right to try to undermine children’s view that it is “gross” for two men to be in a homoerotic relationship. It is not only our ideas that must be properly ordered; it is our feelings, our sentiments as well. We should love that which is deserving of love. We should respect that which is deserving of respect. We should be repelled by actions that violate the design of our bodies and undermine human flourishing. People in homosexual relationships should be respected because they’re human. Their homosexuality per se is wholly undeserving of respect.

Fortunately, the parent of one of the students Etter lectured “contacted the district with ‘serious concerns’ about Etter’s comments.” The principal met with Etter, and then things turned ugly, culminating in a heated and crowded school board meeting on Monday evening. Apparently, Etter doesn’t respect or tolerate views that dissent from his. Apparently, he wants to be free to lecture students on his moral views of their moral views on homosexuality and marriage.

After his meeting with the principal, Etter whined to his union who then sent an email to all district staff and faculty claiming that “‘school leaders treated Etter in a discriminatory manner.’” On HuffPost, Etter’s fake hubby huffed, “‘This would have never happened if Nathan received flowers from his wife.’” No disagreement there. Marriage between a man and a woman is non-controversial. With the exception of a few radical Leftists like Masha Gessen who admit to wanting to destroy marriage, no one disapproves of marriage between one man and one woman. Commitments to equality demand that we treat like things alike. Homosexual unions are quite obviously different from heterosexual unions.

Etter’s view that he was discriminated against exposes why conservatives oppose including “sexual orientation” (code word for “homosexuality”) in anti-discrimination policies and laws. Conservatives understand that a condition constituted by subjective erotic and romantic feelings and volitional acts that many believe are immoral should not be included in anti-discrimination laws and policies. Conservatives correctly understand that people have a right to discriminate between right and wrong sexual behaviors.

Etter doesn’t really want “tolerance” for his homosexuality or his marriage. He wants approval, affirmation, celebration. Historically, people understood tolerance to mean putting up with something one finds objectionable. It did not mean approving, affirming, or celebrating all the beliefs, feelings, and volitional acts of others. In a truly diverse and tolerant world, people are free to find homosexual acts, relationships, and fake marriages offensive, immoral, degrading, and even “gross.” And this may surprise Leftists, but it’s perfectly possible to hold such views while loving those who believe differently and act in accordance with their different beliefs. In a diverse world, most of us do it every day.

Etter also took umbrage that he was instructed to “stick to the curriculum.” How dare an administration try to limit teachers to teaching curricula when what Leftist teachers really want is absolute autonomy to use “teachable moments” to advance their moral assumptions as if they were objective facts.

Etter confirmed that view outside the school board meeting when he said he “wants to continue to live his life authentically and use teachable moments as they arise.” Just wondering, should conservative teachers be permitted to live “authentically and use teachable moments as they arise” to share their views on homosexuality and marriage—views that they believe advance the cause of truth, justice, and human flourishing? Should polyamorous teachers be free to live their lives authentically and use teachable moments as they arise? If not, why not?

“Authenticity” has become a euphemistic term exploited to rationalize immoral behavior and to silence disapproval of such behavior. It’s a manipulative rhetorical tool to confer moral goodness on immoral behavior by implying without proving that acting on intensely felt desires is intrinsically good and necessary for emotional health. It’s like a get-out-of-moral-assessment free card. Of course, authenticity doesn’t apply to those with dissenting views of sexual morality.

“Teachable moments,” another rhetorical gift reserved only for Leftists, just means any moment Leftists can seize on to pontificate on their moral or political assumptions in the classroom. All they need do is connect a topic, a passage in a novel, or a passing comment from a student to one of their moral or political beliefs or place Valentine’s Day flowers from homosexual lovers in the classroom to invite comments, and voilà, a teachable moment.

Etter said “he does not fear losing his job but said he was disappointed that he did not receive an apology.” Apology for what? For telling him to stick to curricula? For not groveling at the altar of his sexuality ideology?

It’s curious that in all the surrounding brouhaha, no one has suggested that perhaps the children Etter shamed are owed an apology.

The other photo accompanying the Trib’s homosexuality-advocacy piece is a big photo of little tykes holding signs that say, “We support Mr. Etter” and the truly ignorant slogan “Love is love.” Is it really? Are all types of loving relationships identical? Will the parents of these little ones trot their children out with that slogan when a teacher in a poly union exploits her “teachable moment”? What about when the teacher who’s in love with his brother exploits his “teachable moment”? After all, who are we to judge. Remember, love is love.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Homosexual-Teacher-Shames-First-Graders-In-Illinois-Elementary-School.mp3

Worldview Conference May 5th

Worldview has never been so important than it is today!  The contemporary culture is shaping the next generation’s understanding of faith far more than their faith is shaping their understanding of culture. The annual IFI Worldview Conference is a phenomenal opportunity to reverse that trend. This year we are featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet on Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Here’s something many Illinoisans don’t know about the school sexuality-indoctrination bill created by Illinois’ premier homosexual and “trans” activist organizations: Equality Illinois and the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (formerly part of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network).* This bill, which requires that the “teaching of history shall include a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this state,” also mandates the following:

 [N]o pupils shall be graduated from the eighth grade of any public school unless he has received such instruction in the history of the United States and gives evidence of having a comprehensive knowledge thereof.

Did you get that? Leftists in Springfield, controlled by outside organizations whose sole raison d’être is to transform the ontological, moral, and political beliefs of Americans, seek to require that children be inculcated with Leftist assumptions about deviant sexuality and be tested on them in order to move on to high school.

Exploiting taxpayer funds and captive audiences of children constitutes the most egregious form of propaganda imaginable. This outrageous effort to use children and public monies to advance a Leftist ideology must be opposed with the kind of fervor and tenacity usually demonstrated only by Leftists.

The bill also has a troubling section on the state’s textbook block grant program. This program, which historically provided textbooks to public and private schools—including Catholic schools—has not been funded for the past five years. If funding is restored and if the school sexuality-indoctrination bill passes, private religious schools would either have to forgo textbook-funding or use textbooks that include material that espouses positive views of disordered sexuality—views that violate both Catholic and Protestant doctrine.

If passed, the ideologically-driven school sexuality-indoctrination bill—also known deceptively as the “Inclusive Curriculum” bill (SB 3249  and HB 5596)—would require not only that k-12 teachers teach about the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and those who reject their biological sex but also to tell students about the sexual predilections of those contributors. In other words, when teachers teach about the accomplishments of Sally Ride or the plays of Oscar Wilde, they would have to discuss their disordered sexual feelings and life choices as well. I wonder if Leftists will require that students be taught that Wilde’s first homosexual encounter was with a 17-year-old when Wilde was 32.

The goal of homosexual and “trans” activists is to use government school curricula to transfer the good feelings children and teens have about achievement to homosexuality and biological-sex rejection. That is decidedly not the role of public schools.

Teachers would also have to teach about the history of homosexual and “trans” activism. Because Leftists have been so effective at advancing their ideology by falsely claiming that homosexuality and biological-sex rejection are analogous to race, they are continuing with that false (and insulting to blacks) analogy by falsely claiming that “LGBTQQAP” activism is analogous to the Civil Rights Movement and must be taught as such to children.

The only other state in the nation that has passed such a radical and destructive law is California, which exposes how radical and destructive Springfield is.

IFI is pleading with Illinoisans—including families that homeschool and private-school their children—to contact their state representatives and senators to urge them to oppose this bill. Until such time as every theologically orthodox church creates a school to educate their children or provides financial assistance to their families who want to pull their children out of government schools but cannot homeschool and lack the means to send their children to private schools, we must continue to fight the usurpation of government schools by Leftists.

Due to death, divorce, desertion, or disability, there are many families in which there is only one wage-earner who cannot afford private school tuition. Compassion for their plight and a commitment to stewarding how our taxes are used should lead Christians to actively oppose this bill with all its devilish details.

*(Note the dishonesty of these organizations’ names: They are about neither equality nor safety. Equality demands that we treat like things alike. Homosexuality is not like heterosexuality, and it’s not like race. And “safety,” as virtually everyone knows by now, has been redefined by homosexuals and those who masquerade as the opposite sex to mean absence of the expression of beliefs with which they disagree.)

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to both your state representative and state senator, urging them to reject this effort to politicize curricula in order to advance biased beliefs about sexuality to children in government schools. Contact them repeatedly.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Devilish-Details-in-School-Sexuality-Indoctrination-Bill.mp3

Worldview Conference May 5th

Worldview has never been so important than it is today!  The contemporary culture is shaping the next generation’s understanding of faith far more than their faith is shaping their understanding of culture. The annual IFI Worldview Conference is a phenomenal opportunity to reverse that trend. This year we are featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet on Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Change does not happen overnight, but bit by bit. And that slow steady change, inch by inch, ushers in new norms which might have been deemed wholly abhorrent if introduced overnight.

Gradual change sears and scars the conscience until the shocking is no longer shocking, but tolerated and barely noticed.

Our culture began it’s slouch toward Gomorrah decades ago: our corporate conscience severed from the tether of biblical mores year by year.

Good people in America have been living good and godly lives, raising their children, paying their taxes, going to church and contributing to their towns and communities. Too many Americans, blissfully ignorant of the radical, evil changes taking place, now face unfathomable perversity where they live.

It’s past time to wake up and do something.

Consider the word of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (emphasis mine):

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (Romans 1:18-31)

Indeed, we are living in a Romans 1 world.

And a huge, publicly funded purveyor of “every kind of wickedness,” Planned Parenthood, is not content to murder over 300,000 preborn babies each and every year. The evil organization has now partnered with another radical group, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — a virulently pro-homosexual organization, to force “comprehensive sex education” on every public school in every state.

In 2015 hints were given that this perverse program was in the works:

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation announced plans this month to launch a coordinated campaign to bring LGBTQ-inclusive sex education to queer youth across the country. These efforts are likely to include digital resources for LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum plans, and efforts to kick start renewed national conversations on the value of sex education that reflects the needs of all young people.

The program called “Get Real” has been in the development for years, long before 2015.

Over fifty years ago, in 1964, the medical director for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Dr. Mary Calderone, founded the “Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States” (SIECUS). Whenever you see or hear the name SIECUS beware.

What were the goals of SIECUS?

Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education — Kindergarten — 12th Grade

• It provides accurate information about human sexuality, including growth and development, anatomy, physiology, human reproduction, pregnancy, childbirth, parenthood, family life, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual response, masturbation, contraception, abortion, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections.

• It helps young people develop healthy attitudes, values, and insights about human sexuality by exploring their community’s attitudes, their family’s values, and their own critical thinking skills so that they can understand their obligations and responsibilities to their families and society.

• It helps young people develop communication, decision-making, assertiveness, and peer-refusal skills so they are prepared to create reciprocal, caring, non-coercive, and mutually satisfying intimacies and relationships when they are adults.

• It encourages young people to make responsible choices about sexual relationships by practicing abstinence, postponing sexual intercourse, resisting unwanted and early sexual intercourse, and using contraception and safer sex when they do become sexually active

Let’s think on that for a moment and let it sink in. “Doctor” Calderone endeavored to force sex ed on children, beginning in Kindergarten, which included information about masturbation, contraception, abortion, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS. And you can be sure, with her relationship to Planned Parenthood, should the perverted sex indoctrination lead to pregnancy, abortion would be offered up as an “innocuous” remedy.

Now, over half a century later, Planned Parenthood’s brainchild, “Get Real” is in the schools. This “comprehensive sex education” course includes all manner of breath-taking activities.

Megan Fox writes at PJ Media:

Sex education in public schools has gone off the deep end. Gone are the days of handing out birth control and practicing putting condoms on bananas. These days your kid is more likely to come away from school with more sexually deviant knowledge than single gay dudes in New York City, thanks to Planned Parenthood’s comprehensive sex ed program that has somehow made it into public school curriculums. These programs teach dangerous and violent practices like BDSM, asphyxiation, gender-bending, anal sex, and let’s not forget “rimming,” which can saddle your kid with nasty parasitic infections.

That descriptive paragraph should stun the sensibilities of any parent, any adult, with a modicum of integrity and sound conscience. But there’s more.

Live Action, the pro-life organization founded by Lila Rose, captured video of a Planned Parenthood worker advising a fifteen year old girl on where to find good information on experimenting with sex in every perverted permutation, including (prepare yourself to be shocked) “bondage/sadomasochism, including gagging, whipping, defecation, emulating pornography, and going to sex stores to ‘get educated.’ ”

The Human Rights Campaign, if your are unfamiliar, claims to be the “largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.”

Reality check: every American is “created equal and endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The HRC goal is NOT the equality we share as created beings, but rather endorsement of any and all sexual perversions as normal. To that end, the HRC intends to indoctrinate children from the age of 5 with information that, in previous decades, would have been considered unthinkable.

Again, we are living in a Romans 1 world.

Further, after decades of saturation with more comprehensive and more repugnant “sex ed” programs, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported in 2017 that sexually transmitted diseases were at an all time high.

So from the advent of Planned Parenthood (founded by infamous eugenicist and racist, Margaret Sanger) and the inception of SIECUS, to the collaboration of sexual deviance advocate organization, HRC, “comprehensive sex ed” has come a long, long way and is intended to taint America’s children and herd them on a broad path to individual and societal destruction.

Parents across the nation are awakening, the result being the #SexEdSitOut movement, with kids being pulled out of public school on Monday, April 23.

Take ACTION:  There is also a correlated “Declaration” to sign which says, in part:

We, as concerned parents and community members, are sick of the sexualization of our children! We say NO to graphic, gender-bending, promiscuity-promoting sex education for our kids.

. . .

We will not stand for our tax money being used to promote sexual liberation, deviance, and gender confusion to our precious kids. In protest, we stand together with those parents pulling their children out of public school on April 23rd for the sex ed sit out.

But conservatives and Christians across this nation must do more that sit out one day: parents and others must demand that public money, taxpayer money, not be used for such abhorrent instruction in the government schools.

Each family must decide to take a stand to protect their children, even if that means ultimately removing students from public schools permanently.

As for Planned Parenthood, HRC and SIECUS?

Luke warns, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

Three 1,600 pound millstones coming up.

Worldview Conference May 5th

Worldview has never been so important than it is today!  The contemporary culture is shaping the next generation’s understanding of faith far more than their faith is shaping their understanding of culture. The annual IFI Worldview Conference is a phenomenal opportunity to reverse that trend. This year we are featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet on Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

The noxious Leftist “Inclusive Curriculum” bill (SB 3249 and HB 5596) created by two Chicago-based homosexual/”trans” activist organizations (i.e., Equality Illinois and the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance) is moving through the Illinois Senate. The central goal of this costly and ideologically driven mandate that robs schools of local control is to use curricula in government schools to transform the way children think and feel about homosexuality and biological-sex rejection (aka as “transgenderism”).

If passed, this indoctrination bill will require that any “book or book substitute that will be used as a text or text substitute” in grades K-12 include the “role and contributions” of homosexuals and of men and women who adopt opposite-sex personas (also known deceptively as “transgender”).

In other words, all materials used in schools will be required to address the roles and contributions of people who define themselves by their disordered sexual desires and sexual behaviors.

In addition, this bill will require that “the teaching of history of the United States in public schools shall include a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State.”

There’s more:

This instruction shall be designed to teach that LGBT individuals have a rich history and have made substantial and valuable contributions to society, including government, arts, sciences, mathematics, sports, education, and in the economic, cultural, and political development of society. The instruction shall teach about the rich advocacy among the LGBT community and the LGBT community’s allies…. Instruction shall reinforce that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression [i.e., cross-dressing], have a right to be treated with civil, legal and human rights….

When possible, adults, including school district employees who openly identify as LGBT and other openly LGBT adults in the community that the school district may decide to consult with, should be involved in the development and delivery of this instruction at the discretion of the LGBT individuals.

There are no good reasons for teachers or textbooks to mention or discuss the sexual interests of contemporary or historical figures who have contributed something noteworthy to society. Their exceptional accomplishments should be noted, but their sexual proclivities—especially controversial sexual proclivities that many view as both immoral and destructive—have no place in public schools.

Homosexual and “trans” activists are not centrally concerned about ensuring that the accomplishments of Sally Ride, James Baldwin, and Oscar Wilde are included in curricula; they already are. Homosexual and “trans” activists from Equality Illinois and the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance are centrally concerned about ensuring that students know that Ride, Baldwin and Wilde were sexually and romantically attracted to persons of the same sex. Homosexual and “trans” activists seek to transfer the good feelings children and teens have about accomplishments to homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation. It’s a ploy to render disordered feelings and immoral actions innocent by association with accomplishment.

But the quasi-religious ontological and moral dogma of the homosexual and “trans” communities regarding biological sex, “gender,” and “gender identity” are not facts and are not neutral. They are articles of faith—arguable beliefs—that government schools have no right to propagate either explicitly or implicitly. Taxpayers should no more be forced to subsidize material based on the quasi-religious beliefs of homosexual and “trans” activists than they should be forced to subsidize material based on the beliefs of, for example, the polyamorous community.

Would any lawmaker vote in favor of mandating that schools teach about the “roles and contributions” of polyamorists and poly-activists, or the roles and contributions of other communities whose identities are constituted by what many view as disordered desires and immoral volitional activities, like “amputee-wannabes,” infantilists, zoophiles, sadomasochists, and sibling-lovers (i.e., “Genetic Sexual Attraction”)?

“LGBTQ” activists take umbrage at such comparisons, declaiming that their sexual predilections constitute an authentic identity somehow set apart from those who identify as polyamorists, amputees, or babies, to which others may respond, “Who are you to judge?”

What if children or their parents experience such desires, engage in behaviors impelled by such feelings, or identify as poly, “amputee wannabes” or “infantilists”? What if they experience unwanted “minor attraction,” “genetic sexual attraction” or zoophilia? If homosexuals and “trans”-identifying persons should be able to see their predilections represented in curricula, shouldn’t other identity groups be able to see themselves represented in curricula? Should the accomplishments of people throughout history who experienced such feelings be excluded simply because they don’t yet have a powerful lobbying group that invents language that cloaks their beliefs in the appearance of objective facts?

We all know that schools—at least for now—wouldn’t teach about the accomplishments of polyamorists, “amputee-wannabes,” sibling-lovers, zoophiles, infantilists, or sadomasochists. Even if school leaders believed the feelings of persons in these groups were powerful, persistent, and unchosen, and even if school leaders believed biochemistry influences the development of their feelings, school leaders would not allow k-12 students to be taught that an important historical figure was a polyamorist, “amputee-wannabe,” sibling-lover, zoophile, infantilist, or sadomasochist. Why is that?

The reason is not merely that no one has yet demanded that they do so. The reason is that school administrators and board members—at least for now—believe the behaviors integral to those conditions are unhealthy, disordered, and immoral and that teaching about the role and contributions of those who engage in them would serve to normalize the phenomena.

Well, here’s an inconvenient truth: many believe the same about homosexuality and the science-denying cult of biological sex-rejection. What right have arms of the government (i.e., public schools) to treat the beliefs of Leftists on those two issues—homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation—as if they were objectively true?

“LGBTQ” activists are so invested in exploiting taxpayer-funded schools to indoctrinate other people’s children that Equality Illinois is dedicating their annual “LGBTQ Advocacy Day” to pressuring lawmakers to pass the wildly inappropriate Inclusive Curriculum bill. This Wednesday, April 11, Equality Illinois is busing their supporters to Springfield for lobbying-training and lawmaker-goading.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to both your state representative and state senator to ask them to reject this effort to politicize curricula in order to advance biased beliefs about sexuality to children in government schools.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Leftist-Public-School-Indoctrination-Bill-Moving-Forward-in-Springfield.mp3

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

I object to two legislative attempts to impose the Secular Religion upon citizens of Illinois: SB 3249 and HB 5596.  They are wholly unnecessary as LGBTQ icons and their works are already present in government schools.

My objections concern the establishment of secularism as our national religion, the valorization of LGBTQ icons more for their sexuality than their gifts and accomplishments, and using the legislature of Illinois as a social engineering lab.

In this my 65th year, our society is nuts.  Rather than being led forth into light and away from ignorance, children are being herded by teachers (and politicians) into Plato’s cave, where the darkness of identity politics, victimhood, and androgyny flicker on the walls.

What was called religion is now marginalized and silenced, and the new dogmatists have a Great Awakening going on.  Secular religion is being established, and SB 3249 and HB 5596 will further that end.

In scholar Mary Eberstadt‘s meaty essay “The Zealous Faith of Secularism,” secular religion has all but replaced the faith that once filled the now nearly-empty church pews. This new religion is a faith free of certainties—a religion that allows one to have his cake and eat his neighbors’ too. Eberstadt writes that “This substitute religion pantomimes Christianity itself in fascinating ways. It offers a hagiography of secular saints, all patrons of the sexual revolution.”

Is that not who faithful Secularists want enshrined in public schools through the “Inclusive Curriculum” bill?

People of faith tend to hunker down under a continual bombardment of political sociology experiments and the attendant media assaults on objections to legislation like Illinois SB 3249 and HB 5596, which demands an “Inclusive Curriculum” that “requires that all social studies and history classes in grades k-12 include the “role and contributions of… lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.” School children should be taught that all people bring gifts that delight, inform, and/or provide positive paths to citizenship, and Walt Whitman, Carson McCullers and James Baldwin do that very well in our curriculum already. Explicit identification of their sexual proclivities does nothing other than advance the sexuality doctrine of the Church of Secularism. Object to this sacred dogma and be damned by the later day Lollards of secular religion.

Tell me, who will your children be after 13 years in the Church of Secularism?

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to both your state representative and state senator to ask them to reject this effort to politicize curricula in order to advance biased beliefs about sexuality to children in government schools.

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

It may be the drip, drip, drip that gets your kids. A scene in a movie, a passage in a novel, a sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality in a play, a song by a well-know musician, a bullying prevention presentation at school, a visually arresting advertisement depicting homosexuality or opposite-sex impersonation positively… week after week, month after month, year after year.

Add to that the vociferous condemnation of disapproval of homosexuality or of the “trans” ideology (including opposition to co-ed private spaces) and voilà, children’s hearts and minds have been transformed—or, rather, deformed.

There are no widespread rational discussions of Leftist positions in which “progressive” arguments are presented with reasons and evidence. No dissenting arguments are explored. This, my friends, is how propaganda and demagoguery work.

And it’s everywhere, even in places you would least expect it, like Monroe Middle School in the heart of conservative Wheaton, Illinois, home of evangelical academic flagship Wheaton College.

Defacing the walls of Monroe Middle School are offensive student drawings that positively portray both homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation, some accompanied by ignorant (i.e., lacking knowledge) and troubling captions.

One drawing shows two boys hugging, cheek-to-cheek with a heart floating above their heads and a rainbow scarf encircling both their necks with the caption, “Be who you are, not who they tell you to be.”

Is that a good slogan on which schools should tacitly put their imprimatur? What does it even mean? Does it mean our identities are defined by our powerful, persistent desires? Any desires? All desires?

Who are “they” in the command to ignore “who they tell you to be”? Is there a difference between someone saying that homosexual activity is destructive to bodies and souls and telling someone who to be? Don’t teachers and administrators teach children every day in myriad ways who to be—and who not to be? Isn’t part of the job of teachers to teach children right from wrong? Isn’t that what character development necessarily entails?

Certainly, Christians believe that identity cannot be centered around the affirmation of sinful impulses of which homosexual impulses and the desire to be the opposite sex are but two.

Another drawing depicts a boy in girl’s clothing and a girl in boy’s clothing holding hands with the caption, “LOVE IS LOVE.”

Is that true? Is there just one universal, undifferentiated human experience called love? Are all loving relationships the same? If so, then logically, sex must be a morally justifiable part of all loving relationships. Man-woman, man-man, woman-woman, man-man-woman, woman-woman-man, adult-teen, adult-child, teen-child, father-daughter, mother-son, brother-brother, coach-team member, professor-student, etc.

Now don’t go all judgmental on me. And do not tell anyone in any of these kinds of relationships “who to be.” Remember, LOVE IS LOVE.

Here are some other questions someone should ask the powers-that-be at Monroe Middle School:

• Were these drawings part of a teacher’s assignment? If so, who was the teacher?

• If not, how did they come to be, and who gave permission for them to be on the walls?

• Were parents of all students notified ahead of time that there were going to be pro-homosexual and pro-“trans” drawings on the walls?

• How long have the drawings been up, and how long will they remain up?

• Are all forms of love identical?

• What other materials that depict homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation positively are the 11-14-year-old Monroe Middle School students being exposed to?

• Does Monroe Middle School allow any students to use opposite-sex restrooms and locker rooms?

• Would the administration permit students to hang drawings of, for example, young women who experience “sex-change regret” and feel sorrow over their sterility; irreversible voice changes; and scarred, breast-less chests?

Often sexual anarchists drip, drip, drip their propaganda and demagoguery into the minds and hearts of children, but lately, grown arrogant and brazen from feasting on their victories, they flood children with their noxious lies. For example, several years ago, California passed a law similar to the one wending its way through the Springfield swamp (the “Inclusive Curriculum” bill). The California law, passed in 2011 is dishonestly called the “Fair Education Act” and requires that all social studies and history classes in grades k-12 include the “role and contributions of… lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.”

The California law also prohibits public schools from using any materials that reflect “adversely upon persons because of their… sexual orientation.” So, while being required to present resources that depict homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation positively, the law censors all resources that present dissenting views. The problem is that, unlike race, homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation are constituted by subjective feelings and volitional acts that many view as immoral. Prohibiting dissenting voices transforms education into indoctrination.

In November 2017, California adopted its first set of textbooks for grades k-8 since the law took effect in 2012. Eight of the proposed textbooks were accepted, while two were rejected. Those two were rejected “because they failed to address the sexual orientations of historical figures who were LGBT, or widely speculated by historians to have been LGBT. They include poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and President James Buchanan.”

As I wrote recently in regard to the “Inclusive Curriculum” bill proposed in Illinois, sexuality anarchists seek to use cultural achievements to suggest without stating that homosexuality and biological sex-rejection are good because people who affirm homosexual or “trans” identities did great things. Leftists seek to associate homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation with achievement in order to transfer the positive feelings people have about achievements to homosexuality and gender confusion.

The California law not only requires that schools include the role and contributions of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators but also—and unbelievably—those suspected of being homosexuals or cross-dressers.

It’s not just Wheaton parents with children in or soon-to-be in Monroe Middle School who should be outraged. All district taxpayers should be outraged. Their property tax dollars are being used to indoctrinate children with a pernicious ideology that undermines truth and human flourishing. In other words, their money is being used to harm children.

Teachers who don’t recognize truth do not deserve to be entrusted with other people’s children. Teachers who know truth but don’t battle tenaciously and courageously for it in public schools should be ashamed for abdicating their moral duty.

Finally, all Illinoisans need to contact their state lawmakers to urge them to reject SB 3249 and HB 5596, or we will end up with the same kind of law California has, only Illinois’ proposed law is worse. It will really flood the Land of Lincoln with noxious lies.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to both your state representative and state senator to ask them to reject this effort to politicize curricula in order to advance biased beliefs about sexuality to children in government schools.

More ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to Monroe Middle School Principal Bryan Buck and Superintendent Jeff Schuler to express your objections to the inappropriate displays, which express arguable ideas on highly controversial topics.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sexuality-Propaganda-from-Drip-Drip-Drip-to-Downpour.mp3

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Jesus once stated that “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8). Unfortunately, this has been proven all too true in recent generations when it comes to the battle for our culture. On the whole, it seems that those who oppose Christ have been far more successful in shaping society than have the followers of God.

One area of our culture where this appears to be particularly true is the realm of education. While the church has been surprisingly complacent on the question of who will educate our children, many in the world have keenly understood the value of capturing the minds of the next generation.

Consider a few quotes from some of the greatest villains of the twentieth century:

“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” – Adolph Hitler

“Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.” – Joseph Stalin

“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” – Vladimir Lenin

It’s All About Ideas

Why did these men place such emphasis on education? The answer isn’t complicated. Through education, we communicate and inculcate ideas, values, and beliefs. He who is most successful in communicating his value system and worldview to the next generation wins the culture.

Stalin expressed it this way: “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas[?]”

Stalin understood that whoever controls the flow of ideas controls the direction of culture. He understood that in a fight for physical superiority, it would be foolish to hand your opponent a gun. Similarly, in an intellectual battle, the one with no ideas and convictions is sure to lose. And so whether the goal is amassing political power or reconstructing society, gaining a monopoly on the flow of ideas is a powerful move.

NO NEUTRALITY

No education is neutral because education is about ideas and ideas aren’t neutral. Despite the popular notion that our public schools are neutral, the truth is that they’re nothing of the kind. Neutrality simply isn’t possible when we’re discussing such worldview-laden topics as history, science, ethics, and morality. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that the dominant worldviews in our public schools today are far from Christian.

This isn’t a wild-eyed conspiracy theory. It’s simply a fact. Our public schools aren’t making any attempt to educate our children from a Christian perspective. So is it really surprising—after decades of a near-monopoly on the part of secular education—that our culture is becoming more secular? What would actually be surprising is if our culture somehow weren’t becoming more secular!

REAPING WHAT WE SOW

This is a fundamental truth, yet one we often overlook when it comes to education. If we sow secularism in our children’s minds, the result will be a secular culture. But this goes back to the point I made at the beginning of this article, that the church has been surprisingly complacent on the topic of education. It’s as if we believe the principle of sowing and reaping applies to everything but our children’s minds. An honest look at what’s happening around us should convince us that this is faulty thinking.

WISING UP

It’s been said that politics is downstream of culture. While this may not be universally true (and policy certainly exerts an influence on our culture), we can’t deny that our politics often respond to the direction we’re moving as a society. If that’s true, and if we want to turn the tide in our culture, we need to direct our attention upstream. I’m not saying we should ignore politics (we shouldn’t). What I am saying is that if we fight only in the political sphere and leave the shaping of the hearts and minds of the next generation to our ideological opponents, any political victories we may win will be short-lived.

Education is certainly one of those areas that’s upstream of culture, and it’s time we wised up to its power. There’s a reason God commanded the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6 to teach their children diligently in His ways. Simply put, the formation of young hearts and minds is a big job, and the worldview we teach them matters.

CHANGE A MIND, CHANGE THE WORLD

When we instruct a young mind in God’s truth, we’re literally impacting the future. When we take the formation of the next generation seriously, we not only impact our children (which is, of course, significant on its own), we also reclaim the power to change our nation.

Imagine what would happen if every Christian family in America decided that we’ve been losing the next generation for too long. Imagine what would happen if every Christian family in America said no to secular education. Imagine what would happen if every Christian family in America decided to educate their children in a manner consistent with their faith. Would it make a difference? Absolutely. Because what we teach matters.

Education really is the not-so-secret weapon of the culture wars.

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Schools just endured a disruptive, Leftist anti-gun protest, and soon they will have to endure the disruptive, Leftist Day of Silence.

For those who don’t know, the Day of Silence is a purportedly “student-led” political effort sponsored and organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to exploit government schools and captive audiences for the purpose of advancing the “LGBT” sexuality ideology. Instead of walking out of classes like students did last week, GLSEN urges students in middle and high schools to refuse to speak all day—including during class. It’s important to note that the ACLU has said students have no legal right to refuse to speak if asked to by teachers.

This year, GLSEN’s Day of Silence takes place in thousands of schools on Friday April 27, 2018.

For over ten years, a coalition of pro-family activists and organizations from all across the country (see list below) have urged parents to contact their children’s principals and teachers to ask if they will be permitting students to refuse to speak during class on the Day of Silence. If administrators and/or teachers are evasive or say that students may refuse to speak during instructional time, we urge parents to keep their children home. This counter-effort is called the Day of Silence Walkout (DOS Walkout). It’s not technically a walkout. Rather, parents should just keep their kids home.

The DOS Walkout is the only organized effort to oppose the hijacking of public education by “LGBT” activists.

In many school districts, student absences cost districts money. Since most administrators are not persuaded by reasonable requests to keep Leftist political action from disrupting instructional time, perhaps they can be persuaded by loss of funds. Until schools stop allowing “LGBT” activism in the classroom, parents should remove their children from exposure to it.

“LGBT” activism permeates government schools in numerous ways throughout the school year. Here are just some of the ways in which public elementary, middle, and high schools promote Leftists views on the controversial topics of homosexuality and gender confusion, and which make the DOS Walkout necessary:

• Many schools allow gender-confused students to share restrooms and locker rooms with students of the opposite sex, including even elementary schools.

• Many schools allow gender-confused students to participate on opposite-sex athletic teams.

• Teachers are being forced by the government to lie by being compelled to refer to gender-confused students by pronouns that designate the opposite sex.

• Girl students are running for prom king and boy students for prom queens.

• School staff are identifying as the sex they are not.

• California schools are legally required to teach positively about homosexuality and gender confusion in all social studies classes in grades k-12, and all resources that espouse dissenting views are censored.

• Schools normalize homosexuality and gender confusion in bullying prevention curricula; sex ed; social studies, English, and theater classes; and in grade school presentations about “family diversity.”

• Elementary schools make picture books that depict homosexuality and gender confusion positively available to children in their libraries.

• Schools host dances for homosexual students.

• Schools promote the normalization of homosexuality and gender confusion through Spirit Day, Ally Week, National Coming Out Day, “LGBT” History Month, and the queen of all homosexuality-affirming days: the “Day of Silence.”

Just recently, activists in Delaware proposed a school code amendment that, if passed, will permit students at any age to “self-identify” their “race or gender identity” at school without parental knowledge or permission. And just recently, activists in Illinois proposed a school amendment that would require every class from k-12 to include the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators as well as the roles and contributions of “LGBT” activists.

Of one thing you can be certain: “LGBT” activists are relentless.

Every year a new crop of students enters middle and high schools whose parents naively believe that public schools value diversity, honor all voices, foster critical thinking, and are committed to creating a “safe” place for all views to be expressed. Those parents and many others whose children are returning students often have no idea the extent of the “LGBT” propaganda that pervades our schools or the degree to which schools censor dissenting views.

And many of those parents have never heard of the “Day of Silence.”

The Day of Silence Walkout offers an easy way for parents to tell school administrators and teachers that they oppose the promotion of non-factual Leftist beliefs about disordered sexuality.

There’s a role too for conservative teachers in this mess. They could be allies of conservative students by prohibiting student silence in class and by refusing to create assignments that accommodate silence. In other words, they should conduct class as if it’s just an ordinary school day.

What too few realize is that many students and teachers detest the Day of Silence. There are teachers—including even liberal teachers—who just want to teach their subject matter. They’re not invested in transforming the moral and political views of other people’s children.

And there are students who dread the controversy. About them, I recently wrote this:

[M]any students do not like divisive political events or discussions on hot button topics at school. Many teens are struggling with all sorts of issues. Their families are experiencing financial struggles, health issues, deaths, divorces, and dysfunction. They have interpersonal issues with peers. They struggle with grades and worry about what comes after high school. They’re exhausted from athletics, academics, part-time jobs, and sleep deprivation. Some struggle with eating disorders, substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders…. [M]any of these kids do not want to confront controversial issues… at school.

These often emotionally vulnerable kids have peers—some acquaintances, some friends—who hold very different views on controversial issues, and for the sake of friendship and comity, these kids seek to avoid discussions and other kinds of events that bring to the fore issues that may affect their relationships. For these kids, political events like…. Day of Silence only make school more stressful.

What do adults do when forced into contexts (e.g., work or social gatherings) with people who hold very different political views? They stay away from the most contentious issues. And what do we do with teens who are struggling through adolescence—a period of developmental turmoil? We force them to be confronted with these very issues in places from which they cannot escape.

If your children are in public school, please consider keeping them home on the Day of Silence. For more information, please visit the Day of Silence Walk Out website.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Another-Disruptive-Political-Stunt-Coming-to-Schools-in-April-Day-of-Silence.mp3

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Rochelle Township High School (RTHS) shows a far better way to respond to school violence than a disruptive demonstration organized by a Leftist political organization–a way that unifies the school community rather than divides and a way that doesn’t violate school board policies regarding student conduct.

Superintendent Jason Harper sent this message to parents:

Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and families of recent school shootings; however, we believe a student walk out creates both a substantial disruption to the learning environment and creates a safety and security risk for students. RTHS will stay safe and focused on learning by remaining in school. We will not participate in the national walk out protests. Students and teachers who participate in such a walk out will receive appropriate consequences for the situation.

At the same time, the RTHS administration wants students to know their voices are heard and should feel empowered to help create meaningful change. The RTHS administration has provided students with the opportunity to plan an entire week of activities as part of the “Week of Us” initiative led by students…. RTHS has dedicated an entire week to honoring lives lost due to violence and to bettering our own school climate.

Contrast Superintendent Harper’s response to the problematic response of St. Charles East High School principal Charles A. Kyle and St. Charles North High School principal Audra Christenson (CUSD 303) who sent a letter to parents informing them that students may participate. The notice also informs parents of the hoops the administration is jumping through to accommodate this violation of school board policy:

In an effort to ensure that we are focusing our efforts on the safety of our students who are on campus, we have decided to close our campus to visitors on March 14. This includes students from other schools, parents, former staff members, and community members. At 10:00 a.m. on March 14, students who choose to walk out of school will be directed to designated areas on campus where school and district administrators will provide supervision. In addition, we have requested extra support from the St. Charles Police Department at our high schools…. Students who participate in the walkout and return to class at the conclusion of the time allotted will not be marked absent. Likewise, students who remain on campus and maintain appropriate conduct will not receive disciplinary consequences.

That’s a curious decision in light of the section on “Prohibited Student Conduct” in their school board policy manual which prohibits the following:

Engaging in any activity, on or off campus, that interferes with, disrupts, or adversely affects the school environment, school operations, or an educational function. (emphasis added)

The letter to parents also includes this patently false statement:

[O]ur District policies, rules, and student code of conduct will remain in place.

Naperville North High School is outdoing most schools. Students there are extending their walkout to 90 minutes with students speechifying on gun violence statistics, community action, and voter information.

Barrington, York, Deerfield, and Highland Park High Schools are allowing students to leave class for Wednesday’s political protest despite all four schools having policy with the exact prohibition of activity that interferes with or  disrupts the school environment or school operations.

Collinsville Middle and High Schools are allowing students to disrupt instructional time despite this board policy:

A student is subject to disciplinary action for engaging in prohibited student conduct… whenever the student’s conduct is reasonably related to school or school activities… [o]n, or within sight of, school grounds before, during, or after school hours or at any time… if the conduct interferes with, disrupts, or adversely affects the school environment, school operations, or an educational function.

You get the point. Many middle and high school administrators are allowing students to participate in a leftist political demonstration that clearly violates school board policies.

Some will argue that the National School Walkout is trivial and, therefore, not worth opposing. And that’s how the Left wins again. The Left understands that incrementalism works. They take one baby-step at a time and when they encounter opposition, they simply ridicule their opponents into submission. Then next week, or next month, or next year, they take more baby-steps. Gradually, incrementally, they effect the radical changes in our schools and in our culture that they have for decades sought.

So, call your children’s middle and high schools to ask if they will be allowing students to violate school conduct policies. If they are, keep your kids home. And if you live in the Rochelle Township High School community, thank Superintendent Harper.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/A-Better-Way-to-Respond-to-School-Violence-1.mp3

IFI depends on the support of Christians like you. Donate now

-and, please-

As most know, the youth arm of the far-Left Women’s March has organized an anti-gun school protest that will take place in countless public schools across the country this week. They’re urging students to leave school buildings at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14 for 17 minutes, which, counting the time it takes for students to exit and return to class, will disrupt classes for about 35 minutes. One school board member who understands the motives, implications, and problems of this political protest, Jeanette Ward in School District U-46, sent several questions to district CEO Tony Sanders, who posted his responses. This is the same Tony Sanders who “guided” his administration to “support” demonstrating students through myriad activities throughout the day.

What Sanders’ responses reveal is how “progressive” administrators rationalize violations of even board policy and student conduct policy in the service of “progressive” causes. Such rhetorical and ideological gymnastics must require some serious mental limbering up.

Here is the first of Ward’s questions:

[H]ow does the walkout not violate Board policy 7.196, where it says, “Student disruptions to the continuity of the instructional program on school district premises, or at school-related activities, will be viewed by the Board of Education, in consultation with Administration, as a serious matter and may be grounds for suspension and/or expulsion”? Isn’t a 10 am walkout a “disruption to the continuity of the instructional program”?

And now for Sanders’ first risible rationalization:

The full text of Board Policy 7.196 regarding student demonstrations which states “Peaceful and free expression of student ideas and opinions will be allowed as long as such expression does not disrupt the continuity of the instructional program. School personnel may reasonably regulate peaceful assembly and the time and place of petition circulation in order to avoid interference with the normal school operation. Student disruptions to the continuity of the instructional program on school district premises, or at school-related activities, will be viewed by the Board of Education, in consultation with administration, as a serious matter and may be grounds for suspension and/or expulsion.” In other words, policy supports administrators working along with students to “reasonably regulate.”

Let’s try to read this the way normal people and good attorneys might read it. Yes, board policy does, indeed, say that administrators may “reasonably regulate,” but Sanders apparently forgot to include the object of this reasonable regulation, so I’ll provide it: “In order to avoid interference with the normal school operation,“ “School personnel may reasonably regulate peaceful assembly” that “does not disrupt the continuity of the instructional program.” (emphasis added)

Non-disruption of the instructional program and non-interference with normal school operation are necessary pre-requisites for any type of student demonstration. It should go without saying that when students leave their classes, the “continuity of the instructional program” is disrupted.

Evidently not noting his contradiction, Sanders goes on to demonstrate that the walkout not only “disrupts the continuity of the instructional program” but also interferes with “normal school operation”:

Teachers not assigned to a classroom will be expected to supervise students. We are also sending support from central office to any school that requests assistance with supervision…. If every student in a classroom departs to participate in the walkout, then the teacher will move with their students to supervise only.  

After his odd and ungraceful leap over the type of event that school personnel may regulate (i.e., demonstrations that neither interfere with normal school operation nor disrupt the continuity of the instructional program), Sanders scurries on to dangle a glittering red herring that flutters like a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon in front of his audience by reciting irrelevant board policy about basic civil rights; education for a democracy; freedom of individual conscience, association, and expression; and, ironically, social responsibility:

Further we have other policies. 7.131 states, “the basic civil rights afforded individuals of a democratic society will be supported by U-46 personnel in their interactions with students.” Policy 7.130 says “The Board of Education seeks to educate young people in the democratic tradition, to foster recognition of individual freedom and social responsibility, and to inspire meaningful awareness of and respect for the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. Freedom of individual conscience, association, and expression will be encouraged. Procedures will be observed both to safeguard the legitimate interests of the schools and to exhibit, by appropriate examples, the basic objectives of the democratic society as set forth in the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Illinois.”

Of course, all those goals and values are important, but prohibiting a walkout that inarguably disrupts the “continuity” of instruction and interferes with “normal school operation” does not conflict with the district’s civic mission or abrogate students’ rights to express themselves or associate.

In Ward’s second question, she asked whether the demonstration violates the student code of conduct that prohibits “a demonstration and mass protest,” which is defined as “willful disturbance of school activities through a march or rally that prevents the orderly conduct of school classes or activities.”

Sanders’ rationalization goes like this:

[W]e are working with the students to prevent the walkout from becoming a disturbance. We are allowing students who want to peacefully assemble to do so and working to ensure that students who do not want to participate are not kept from their classroom instruction. Should students engage in behavior that is disruptive, then consequences would be appropriate pursuant to the Student Code of Conduct.

So, according to sophist Sanders, exiting the school building during class neither “disrupts the continuity of” instruction, nor interferes with “normal school operation,”—even though supervision must be radically altered and increased—nor “disturbs school activities,” nor “prevents the orderly conduct of school classes or activities.” Did you hear that, kiddos? Leaving class does not disturb the orderly conduct of class.

Oh waaait, maybe Sanders doesn’t know what a “disturbance” is! A disturbance is any activity that interrupts the “peace” of, for example, a class. It’s an event that “interferes” with an activity. It’s defined as a “disruption.” How is exiting the school building during class not a “disturbance”?

In contrast, District 300 has made this far wiser decision:

[I]f a “walkout” type event does occur (e.g. moment of silence), it must happen within the building and with the prior consent of the school administration. Due to safety and supervision concerns we are discouraging any walkouts and will not support an activity that takes our students outside of the building. Doing so on a known date and time violates our safety polices and common sense. 

Take ACTION: Parents, contact your schools to find out what your board policy and student conduct code says about political demonstrations, and find out if students will be permitted to participate in this political demonstration without consequence or penalty. And consider keeping your children home if your school is permitting normal school activities to be disrupted, disturbed, or interfered with for Wednesday’s political demonstration.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/School-CEO-Rationalizes-Violation-of-School-Policy-to-Defend-Disruptive-Anti-Gun-Protest.mp3

RESCHEDULED: IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

What was once unthinkable has become unquestionable. And so, every Christian must know how to engage this transgender moment.

Imagine this scenario: Your 17-year-old daughter tells you she’s trapped in the wrong body, is really a boy, and wants hormone therapy to begin the process of transitioning. As her parent, you love your daughter, but you disagree. You want to look at other options to help her.

She decides to take you to court. Even though she’s a minor under your care, the judge decides your beliefs are a danger to your daughter, and takes her from your custody.

Well, imagine this scenario no more. That’s exactly what happened in Ohio recently.

And we shouldn’t be surprised. As Ryan Anderson, a Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation warns, Americans can expect more cases just like this one.

Anderson’s in-depth research of the transgender movement and sexual ideology is now available in his new book, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.” And I don’t say this lightly, this book is one every single Christian needs to read and understand.

This is a movement with considerable momentum—in popular culture, education, and even public policy. It’s an evolving movement. Here’s what I mean: as Anderson points out, gender ideology used to be based on the idea that our sex (in other words our physical natures, including reproductive organs and hormones) was biological, but our gender was socially constructed.

Activists challenged traditional gender roles as being oppressive and too generalized. But today the movement claims that sex is not biological, but assigned at birth. As if the doctor makes a random decision to identify a child as male or female. That’s how, the popular theory goes, boys can be trapped in girl’s bodies, and vice versa.

This is, of course, a scientifically indefensible position, and assumes that deep in some part of one’s brain (though we’re not sure where), our true gender identity is located. The theory is advancing, not on its merits, but on political power and name-calling: that only bigots insist on biological realities.

What Anderson does so well in “When Harry Became Sally” is to articulate how transgender ideology is hopelessly tied up in contradictions. He’ll help you spot those contradictions and articulate them with clarity and kindness to others.

But even so, many Christians still wonder why they should care about this one. Maybe they are still wearied over the same-sex marriage battle, or like many of us, maybe this is one of those issue that hits a little too close to home.

Well, I think there are at least two reasons we should care. First, Christians have always proclaimed that our bodies matter. This is no trivial point of Christian theology. Scripture tells us that God made us in His image, male and female. That Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, and that He was physically resurrected from the dead. We cannot go along with any ideology that denies God’s created order.

And the second reason we should care is, well, the children. Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. Transgender ideology is disproportionately aiming at children, teaching them that they are not the inherently valuable image bearers God created them to be. If we love our neighbors, especially the kids, we cannot remain silent on this one.

We will send you a copy of “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” as a thank you for your gift today. Visit BreakPoint.org to get your copy.  It will equip you to defend the truth of God’s plan for human sexuality and identity—and help those impacted by the transgender movement.

And if you come to our website, you’ll find other articles and teaching resources on this issue also.

This article was originally published at BreakPoint.org

From working for a decade in a public high school, I can say with certainty and knowledge that many students do not like divisive political events or discussions on hot button topics at school. Many teens are struggling with all sorts of issues. Their families are experiencing financial struggles, health issues, deaths, divorces, and dysfunction. They have interpersonal issues with peers. They struggle with grades and worry about what comes after high school. They’re exhausted from athletics, academics, part-time jobs, and sleep deprivation. Some struggle with eating disorders, substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders. They now worry about their safety at school.

They want to know that adults—parents, school staff, and law enforcement—are protecting them. But many of these kids do not want to confront controversial issues like gun-control at school.

These often emotionally vulnerable kids have peers—some acquaintances, some friends—who hold very different views on controversial issues, and for the sake of friendship and comity, these kids seek to avoid discussions and other kinds of events that bring to the fore issues that may affect their relationships. For these kids, political events like the National School Walkout and upcoming Day of Silence only make school more stressful.

What do adults do when forced into contexts (e.g., work or social gatherings) with people who hold very different political views? They stay away from the most contentious issues. And what do we do with teens who are struggling through adolescence—a period of developmental turmoil? We force them to be confronted with these very issues in places from which they cannot escape.

A good middle and high school education—even a stellar education—does not require discussions of the most controversial issues dividing the country, issues that inflame the passions of even mature adults. And prohibiting disruptive political agitation at school does not compromise either the quality of education or students’ speech rights.

Adults who permit, facilitate, or encourage divisive, inflammatory, emotionally-charged events in schools demonstrate their ignorance, and from that ignorance emerges a lack of compassion.

Let the kids who want to protest guns (or promote homosexuality and biological-sex rejection) do it on their own time and not in the faces and compulsory spaces of all students.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Political-Agitation-at-Schools-Vulnerable-Kids.mp3

RESCHEDULED: IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Yet another “progressive” usurpation of government schools is taking place on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:00 when without permission students will leave their classrooms for 17 minutes—one minute for each person killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Of course, it will take 10 minutes for all the students to exit buildings and another 10 to get back to classes and settle down, so realistically, their political protest will waste closer to 35 minutes of instructional time. This anti-gun political protest (#ENOUGH #NationalSchoolWalkout) is organized by EMPOWER, the youth division of the far-Leftist Women’s March organization—you know, the pink beanie-bedizened “nasty” women.

This Leftist political action may waste even more instructional time in Elgin, Illinois schools if School District U-46 CEO Tony Sanders has his way. If he gets his druthers, it looks like the entire day will revolve around this anti-gun political action. Here are the troubling parts of the email Sanders—who can’t seem to keep out of Leftist-inspired messes—sent to staff, faculty, and administrators:

We have guided administrators to establish a plan to support student-led activities on March 14…. This is a “teachable moment” across our nation, and we will be encouraging students who want to participate in this event to plan for meaningful activities that reflect the best principles of civic engagement…. School administration will allow students to participate in this event on school property without fear of reprisal. We respect students’ rights to free speech. Our role as school and District employees is not to participate in the activities or voice our own political opinions during the school day but to guide students toward research, reflection and advocacy as civic-minded citizens. Activities can range from conducting research, delivering presentations, writing to legislators, creating art, discussing issues in a Socratic Seminar format, and more. (emphasis added)

“Guiding” administrators to “support” student-led activities contradicts the spirit of his instruction not to “voice” opinions. Isn’t “support” an expression of an opinion? If someone were to say she “supports” a particular gubernatorial candidate, wouldn’t everyone understand that to mean she has an opinion on the candidate and wouldn’t they know exactly what that opinion is?

It appears that Sanders’ guidance extends way beyond the 17 minutes when students will hang around outside. It appears he is guiding teachers to shape their day’s activities around the anti-gun agitation of Leftist teens. Is that appropriate guidance? Shouldn’t teachers resume the regularly-scheduled activities free from the influence of political activity?

Let’s imagine what would happen if a group of students organized by an outside conservative political activist organization were to stage a walkout to protest the silencing of women in Muslim countries, the murders of Christians in Muslim countries, the efforts to narrowly circumscribe or overturn the Second Amendment, illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, co-ed restrooms and locker rooms, or legalized human slaughter (also known euphemistically as “abortion”). Would Sanders “guide” administrators to establish a plan to “support” these “student-led” activities? And how do you think Leftist teachers—and most teachers are Leftists—would respond to being “guided” to support these student-led activities?

Now that I think about it, maybe kids should leave government indoctrination centers for 60 million minutes—one minute for each human slaughtered in the womb since 1973. The average school year is 75, 600 minutes, so this would take kids out of government schools for 796 years. Sounds like a plan to me.

We all know that this kind of adolescent activism comes mostly from Leftist kids, but what if conservative kids rose up and decided to organize walkouts like the ones just mentioned. And what if other Leftist students organized other protests in support of other causes. How many protests would Sanders and his compeers in other schools permit? Would administrators tolerate 2, 5, 10, 20?

And that leads to the question of whether instructional time in government schools should ever be exploited for political purposes. Sanders referred to respect for “students’ rights to free speech.” Surely Sanders knows that students do not have the full complement of speech rights while at school. Moreover, prohibiting students from leaving class does not abrogate their speech rights. As all administrators, teachers, and students know, students have multiple ways available to express their views that don’t involve 17 minutes of playing hooky.

Let’s not forget in all the exciting hubbub about Leftist teens engaging in Leftist activities at school about how conservative teens will feel during this half hour (or the entire day). Will they feel compelled to leave school during the walkout? Will they feel self-conscious remaining in the classroom? Will their non-participation be interpreted as not caring about school violence? Will they fear their non-participation will be interpreted as apathy about school shootings?

Everyone desperately wants to find solutions to the problem of mass shootings in schools. Full and open discussions of all the factors that contribute to school shootings and of all possible solutions are necessary. Discussions must include examination of the effect of family dysfunction; absent or abusive fathers; violent video games, tv programs, and movies; the industrial education complex; the drugging of children—especially male children—to force compliance within the industrial education complex; the systemic failure of schools and law enforcement to identify and treat properly seriously troubled teens; and the loss of Christian faith. A 17-minute walkout by Leftist teens organized by Women’s March agitators is unhelpful and only exacerbates division.

Take ACTION: Parents, your mission—should you choose to accept it—is to contact your children’s teachers via email ASAP, asking whether they will be planning classroom activities for next Wednesday that pertain in any way to the National School Walkout or school gun violence. If even some of your children’s teachers are planning activities around the National School Walkout, keep your children home for the day if you can. Allowing Leftists to determine what takes place in instructional time ensures that it will happen again and again and again.

#dontbedoormats

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Leftist-Anti-Gun-Protest-in-Government-Schools-Next-Week.mp3

RESCHEDULED: IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

You want to know where the “trans” insanity is taking us—I mean, besides co-ed private spaces everywhere, which means no private spaces anywhere?

Look no further than Regulation 225, a proposed amendment to the Delaware school code, which, if passed, will allow students of any age to “self-identify” their “gender or race” at school without their parents’ knowledge if students say their parents would not be “supportive.” Don’t believe me? Read it yourself in Section 7.4 and Sec. 7.4.1:

All students enrolled in a Delaware public school may self-identify gender or race…. A school may request permission from the parent or legal guardian of a minor student before a self-identified gender or race is accepted; provided, however, that prior to requesting the permission from a parent or legal guardian, the school should consult and work closely with the student to assess the degree to which, if any, the parent or legal guardian is aware of the Protected Characteristic and is supportive of the student, and the school shall take into consideration the safety, health and well-being of the student in deciding whether to request permission from the parent or legal guardian. (emphasis added)

So, who will define “supportive,” “safety,” “health,” and “well-being”? “Progressive” school administrators, mental health “professionals,” and lawmakers who believe the nonsensical, anti-science superstition that humans can be “born in the wrong body” (which simply means someone wishes he were the opposite sex)?

Will these “progressives” define supportiveness as affirming children’s disordered desires to be the opposite sex (or race)?

Will a student’s distress over her parents’ assertion of the truth that her sex (or race) cannot change be evidence to Big Brother that the child’s “health” is jeopardized?

If a child claims that his parents will be angry if he uses the name “Mary” at school or if teachers refer to him by “she,” “her” or “ze,” will Big Brother deem his “safety” or “well-being” at risk?

And if the law determines that parental objections to Leftist language rules and co-ed private spaces constitute a threat to the safety, health and well-being of children who reject their immutable biological sex, how long will it be till the state justifies removing “trans”-identifying minors from their parents’ custody?

Oh wait, that’s already happened.

Last month in Ohio, a judge awarded custody of a 17-year-old girl who identifies as a boy to her grandparents after her parents refused to call her by the male name she’s chosen and because they refused to allow her to take cross-sex hormones that would leave her with irreversible voice changes and sterility.

Note the irony: Leftists pass laws that prevent minors from accessing counseling in their quest to reject their unwanted, subjective homoerotic feelings, but Leftists want minors to be able to access medical help in their futile quest to reject their unwanted but immutable objective sex.

To be clear, this girl seeks to reject her sex—not her “gender.” The Left defines “gender” as the arbitrary, socially-constructed roles, conventions, behaviors, and expectations that society associates with the male or female sex. If she were rejecting her gender, all she would need do is alter her social roles and behaviors.

But instead, she’s attempting to change her sex by chemically altering her anatomy and physiology. She and the Mengeles who will facilitate her bodily destruction—with no evidence of long-term safety—are treating her healthy anatomy and physiological processes as if they were diseased, and in so doing will harm her now-healthy body. The medical profession and the courts are co-conspirators in a grotesque science experiment being performed on the bodies of children.

While Ohio courts and Delaware lawmakers usurp parental rights in support of the science-denying, body-destroying “trans”-ideology, a glimmer of hope and sanity emerges from the heart of the Midwest (no, definitely not from Illinois).

The Kansas Republican Party passed a resolution proposed by Eric Teetsel, president of the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, titled “Regarding Human Sexuality Identity” that makes the following commonsense claims:

WHEREAS, all persons are created in God’s image and, therefore, have inherent dignity and inalienable rights; and

WHEREAS, God’s design was the creation of two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female; and

WHEREAS, transgenderism differs from hermaphroditism or intersexualism in that the sex of the individual is not biologically ambiguous; and

WHEREAS, many have sought to normalize transgenderism and define gender according to one’s self-perception apart from biological anatomy; and

WHEREAS, there is no scientific consensus regarding the ethics or effectiveness of attempts to align one’s biology with one’s self-perception through experimental and exploratory medicine; and

WHEREAS, some Kansas public schools are encouraging parents and teachers to affirm the feelings of children experiencing gender dysphoria; and

WHEREAS, some Kansas public schools are allowing access to private facilities according to children’s self-perception of gender and not according to biological sex; and

WHEREAS, multiple states have begun to prohibit licensed counselors from any attempt to assist children struggling with gender dysphoria; and

WHEREAS, these cultural currents run counter to God’s created order and violate the dignity of every human being; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Kansas Republican Party recognizes the dignity of every human being, including those who identify as LGBT; that we affirm God’s design for gender as determined by biological sex and not by self-perception; that we oppose efforts to surgically or hormonally alter one’s bodily identity to conform with one’s perceived gender identity; that we oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity; that we recognize the fundamental right of parents to guide their child’s education; that public schools should not undermine the values of parents who do not agree with transgenderism; and that students have a reasonable expectation of privacy and safety at school.

This resolution is not informed by ignorance but by knowledge.

It is not informed by foolishness but by wisdom.

And it is not informed by hate but by love.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Big-Brother-Is-Coming-for-Your-Kids-and-Hes-Wearing-a-Dress.mp3

RESCHEDULED: IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!