FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2005
Features/Education/Religion
CONTACT INFORMATION:
To schedule an interview with Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. or Bruce
Shortt call Creative Resources @ 800.858.9388 or cmresource@aol.com
Exodus Mandate (www.exodusmandate.org)
Chaplain (Lt. Col., Ret.) E. Ray Moore, Jr., Th.M. (South Carolina):
803-714-1744
Dr. Robert Dreyfus (Florida): 352-216-1703
Pastor Larry Reagan (Tennessee): 731-364-6724
Experts
The statements of Robert Knight, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, Linda
Harvey, and Dr. Warren Throckmorton, and Peter LaBarbera, along
with their media contact information, are below.
NEWS RELEASE
SBC Resolution Asks for Investigation of Homosexual Influence
in Public Schools
New resolution submitted at 2005 annual meeting of Southern Baptist
Convention may lead to exodus of Christian children.
Exodus Mandate/Columbia, SC - Under the guise of promoting tolerance,
safety, diversity, and multiculturalism, a growing number of government
schools are influencing our children to regard homosexuality as
an acceptable lifestyle and silencing those within the schools
who disagree.
In order to make Christian parents and pastors more aware of
the aggressive homosexual activism being sponsored by many public
schools, Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., a prominent Southern Baptist
lecturer, preacher, and author of The Ever-Loving Truth, and Bruce
N. Shortt, co-sponsor of the 2004 Christian Education Resolution
and author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, have submitted
a resolution addressing homosexuality and the public schools for
consideration at the SBC's 2005 Annual Meeting.
The resolution encourages every SBC church to investigate whether
the school district in which it is located has either a homosexual
club or any curriculum or program that attempts to influence children
to accept homosexual behavior as a legitimate lifestyle. If the
school district has any of these, the resolution urges churches
to inform parents of this fact and encourage them to remove their
children from the district's schools immediately.
The Baucham-Shortt resolution also: (a) commends Christians working
in government schools, (b) asks Baptists to make a greater effort
to provide and support Christian educational alternatives to government
schools, especially for the benefit of children from low income
and single parent families, (c) calls upon Baptists to pray for
homosexuals, and (d) rebukes homosexual activists for slandering
minorities by claiming that homosexual behavior has any authentic
connection with the civil rights movement.
Dr. Baucham believes it is urgent that Christian parents become
better informed: "I am convinced that if government schools
had to recruit students by sending out brochures outlining the
academic, moral, and spiritual aspects of their curriculum, most
Baptists would throw it in the trash without a second thought.
However, when these schools can hide behind stealth phrases like
tolerance, safe schools, multiculturalism, and safer sex, parents
are often unaware of the dangers lurking beneath the surface.
Moreover, parents who speak up are often branded as narrow-minded
bigots with outdated values. This resolution is an effort to shine
the light of truth in the dark corners of our schools and force
our brethren to take a long, hard, honest look at what we have
tolerated for far too long."
According to Shortt, "Homosexuals need our prayers and concern,
but Christian parents must make sure that their children are not
being endangered by false teaching in government schools. Under
the guise of promoting "tolerance", "safety",
"diversity", and "multiculturalism", government
schools are influencing our children to regard homosexuality as
an acceptable lifestyle and silencing those within the schools
who disagree. Education officials who would never dream of engineering
acceptance of smoking among children are all too often complicit
in promoting acceptance among children of a lifestyle that evidence
indicates is at least as deadly and self-destructive as smoking."
Well-known experts consulted regarding this resolution confirm
that mainstreaming of the homosexual lifestyle in public schools
is widespread and poses a serious danger to children:
Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth and Executive
Director of the Illinois Family Institute, www.illinoisfamily.org,
630-790-8370: "I have monitored the homosexual movement
for 15 years, with special focus on its campaign to penetrate
schools. Groups like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network and PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and
Gays), working with pro-homosexual student groups, promote the
false notion of inherent 'GLBT' (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender)
identity-resulting in sexually-confused students 'coming out'
at younger and younger ages. Radical gender and homosexual advocacy
groups influence teacher-training programs dealing with 'sexual
orientation' and 'diversity,' creating school environments that
are heavily biased against Christian moral teachings. Even grade-school
students are targeted, with manipulative programs and lesson plans
about 'bullying' and homosexual parenting. Most parents, especially
those living near big cities, simply have no clue as to the many
ways that the 'sexual orientation' agenda works its way into their
children's education."
Linda Harvey, President, Mission America, Columbus, OH, www.missionamerica.com,
(614) 442-7998: "Based on my 10 years of tracking and
researching the growth of homosexual activism in public schools,
I know that very few parents are aware that the majority of public
school districts are selling our children the dangerous and false
notion that homosexuality is a normal and acceptable lifestyle.
Because most Christian parents and churches have been silent about
this out of ignorance or apathy, they are essentially saying to
their children that what the schools are teaching is accurate
and acceptable; they are also saying to schools, we give you permission
to proceed, to count on our silence, and to count on our children
continuing to fill your classrooms."
Robert Knight, director, Culture & Family Institute, an
affiliate of Concerned Women for America (202) 488-7000: "Under
the rubric of "diversity," "tolerance," "safe
schools," and AIDS education, homosexual activists are selling
a pansexual agenda right under parents' noses. They gain access
to public schools by initiating something with obvious appeal,
such as the anti-bullying program "No Name-Calling Week."
Such projects are a Trojan horse for promoting homosexuality as
normal and inevitable for some kids. Parents then find themselves
being accused of bigotry for trying to steer children away from
a set of behaviors whose risks are well documented. By the time
it reaches that stage, the activists and their materials are entrenched
in the school system."
Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, M.S., M.D., Department of Politics,
Princeton University and Laboratoire de la Physique de la Matiére
Condensée, Université de Nice USA+1 (203) 221-0031
jsatinov@princeton.edu: "Any program, club, or curriculum
that signals to students that homosexual behavior is 'just another
lifestyle' places children at tremendous risk. Data from the Centers
for Disease Control indicate that for boys and young men in North
America who identify themselves as homosexual even if the identification
is only temporary, which as has been documented in numerous large-scale
sociological studies in America, France, Britain, Australia and
New Zealand, as is the case with the majority of such self-identified
homosexuals - the risk of being either HIV positive or dead by
age 30 may now be as high as 65%."
Dr. Warren Throckmorton, Associate Professor of Psychology,
Grove City College 724-458-3787, ewthrockmorton@gcc.edu: "As
a result of over 20 years of clinical experience and academic
research concerning education and sexual orientation, it is clear
that schools are increasingly being used by groups such as the
Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) as focal points
for their advocacy. Instruction time is being given over to political
activism, much of which has as its purpose to change traditional
beliefs concerning sexuality. Most parents have no idea that this
is going on or that public school officials collaborate with political
activists to attempt to alter the beliefs of school children."
Additional information, including the text of the resolution,
can be found at www.exodusmandate.org
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