This fall, Maryland’s Montgomery County will begin teaching middle and high school students about homosexuality as a normal sexual identity amid an appeal by pro-family groups.
Montgomery's 8th and 10th graders will be taught in their health education courses that homosexuality is "innate," anal sex is just another sexual option, children who hold traditional religious views about homosexuality are labeled "homophobic," and that transgenderism is just another "sexual orientation," according to Thomas More Law Center.
The law center is assisting pro-family groups – Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and the Family Leader Network – in a last-minute appeal against the Maryland State Board of Education's decision last month to approve the homosexual-friendly curriculum.
"This curriculum is full of factual inaccuracies and runs counter to sound educational policy," Edward L. White III, trial counsel with Thomas More Law Center, said in a released statement. "It should not be taught in the public school."
Barring last-minute court action, the county will go ahead in its teaching of homosexuality, according to The New York Times.
While the lessons are to promote respect and acceptance of the various forms of sexual identity, pro-family groups argue that the lessons will indoctrinate children with negative influences and that parents should have a right to decide what their child should learn.
John Garza, president of the Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, a group leading the opposition, said parents can block television shows they deem morally questionable “but then we have the schoolteacher affirming unhealthy behavior," according to the Times.
Coral Ridge Ministries, a prominent conservative Christian organization, recently ran a media campaign against declining moral and academic excellence in public schools, shedding light on "how America's courts are stripping parents of their rights to oversee what their children learn in classrooms."
In the new curriculum, Montgomery students will be exposed to individual testimonies from GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual) persons, according to Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum.
"I've known for a long time that I am a lesbian," reads one of the testimonies. "When I was a little girl, my grandfather would read me a bedtime story before I went to sleep.
"When he read those stories, I knew that when I grew up, I would marry the beautiful princess, not the prince."
Candi Cushman, an education analyst for Focus on the Family, quoted a mother of six – two of whom are in the school district. "They are essentially telling the kids that unless they accept homosexuality, there is something wrong with them," said Michelle Turner. "These kids have no ability to voice their objection. These lessons are so tightly scripted, there is really no discussion that is permitted to take place in the classroom."
A 2004 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and National Public Radio found that more than 50 percent of high school and middle school parents supported teaching what homosexuality is about "without discussing whether it is wrong or acceptable."
Comments
"Huge Christians" do not commit sodomy. Sodomy is a disgusting sin, and if your church does not teach that, then it is not teaching the true gospel. I pray you find the Lord and be delivered from this terrible sin.
This article is a clear representation of whats wrong in this sick society. It is a crime to teach the everlasting word of God in our schools, but we can promote homosexual sodomy? We are a sick society going down fast.
ALL OF U PEOPLE THAT THINK THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS WRONG...U ARE ALL THE BIGGEST LOSERS IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!! IM A HUGE CHRISTIAN BUT IM ALSO BI AND EVERYONE AT MY CHURCH ACCEPTS ME FOR WHO I AM SO YA'LL NEED TO DO THE SAME!!!!!!!! PLUS NO ONE SHOULD BE JUDGED BY WHO THEY R, WHAT THEY R, OR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN!!!!!!!! IF U HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY TO ME THEN GO RITE AHEAD BUT IM GONNA STAND UP FOR WHO I AM AND FOR MY GIRLFRIEND!!!!!! I COULD TALK ABOUT ALL THIS FOR HOURS BUT 3/4 OF YA'LL WOULD JUST BLOW IT OFF LIKE ITS NOT DOING ANYTHING TO ANYBODY BUT IN REALITY IT IS...PEOPLE GET HURT BY WORDS AND ACTIONS MORE THEN U MAY THINK SO JUST TAKE A SECOND AND THINK ABOUT WHO U REALLY ARE AND WHAT U WANT TO B KNOWN AS!!!!!!!! PEACE! BY THE WAY...JOIN PETA!!!!
HERE's WHAT WE CAN DO!
Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC) believes parents have the ultimate authority to guide the moral direction of their children without interference by an increasingly activist public school system. We seek to achieve this through public debate, engagement with Montgomery Public Schools, and, when necessary, legal action.
Unfortunately, the Board’s revised sex ed curriculum, which it approved on January 7, 2007, is no better and in many ways more harmful to our children. Our current objective is to educate parents regarding the content of the curriculum and the Constitutional issues involved.
As a concerned citizen, here's what you can do.
1) Go online and sign the petition. Visit www.MCPSCurriculum.com for more information. http://www.petitiononline.com/CRCMCPS/petition.html
2) Send a letter to the Montgomery County BOE. Visit the website's petition area for a template.
3) Tell others.
4) Pray for our children and their educators. We can win this battle, on our knees.
Depravity is a bottomless pit.
This type of thing in the schools may lead in a few different direction... to some children questioning their sexuality... to some children thinking alll adults do these things and in turn disrespecting adults for disgusting behavior and violation of their virtue... and then again to others turning to violence against peers they suspect of such behavior, because it (the idea of anal sex) s an affront to most normal senses. And no 'condoning' of such behavior by school teachers will ever change that.
I think that if the kids aren't pulled out, they need to stand up in class and dare to speak the truth, even if they do get in trouble. If enough of them took a stand right there in class, someone would have to listen.
Having read some of the works of Saint Aquinas his definition of a confident Christian would also be tied to the validity of the Catholic Church, something obviously your site has an issue with. "It is the teaching of the Church that obedience is part of justice, one of the four cardinal virtues, which are in turn subordinate to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity". (St. Thomas Aquinas). I understand your attraction to the early Catholic Fathers, but just had a question about quoting him for something that he obviously didn't agree with in his life. However, I commend you for reading great works.
truthandjustice -
First, my feeling on the Lutheran issues in the news is one of sadness. Anytime professed followers of Christ claim there is nothing wrong in practicing something, no matter what it is, that is condemned in Scripture and therefore disregard God's authority, it is a sad and scary day.
Next, thank you for visiting my web site. I'm sorry to say I don't really understand the point you're trying to make so let me quickly explain why I use Aquinas' quote. It is taken from one of his articles in Summa of the Summa [ed. Peter Kreeft (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1988), page 46]. I use it because it fits perfectly with the theme of my site, which is a small endeavor to help create more confident christians. Christians should be the most confident people around because the truth of God can't be proven false. Whether it is the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus, etc., we can stand strong knowing that "the contrary of a truth can never be demonstrated." Opponents can try and eclipse the truth, suppress the truth, or distort the truth, but they can never prove it wrong. So Aquinas' point and the theme of confidence fit hand in glove, and that's why I use it.
Hope this helps.
schumacr, I went to your site. I have a few questions:
1) How do you feel about the changes taking place in the lutheran church with regards to homosexuality? There have been a few stories on Christian post about it.
2) "The Bible is without error in its original manuscripts, is completely reliable as the final authority in all matters of doctrine and practice". I found this comment particularly funny because above it you have a quote in bold from Saint Aquinas. Surely having studied in a seminary you know who Fr. Thomas Aquinas is, I'm assuming that is why you chose his quote to put in bold. Did they teach you in your seminary that Fr. Aquinas believed in the bible only approach and that he did not believe in Church tradition? This is news to me because I was taught that Fr. Aquinas also believed like the early Christians that the Church also was responsible for interpreting God's word or there would be many different translations causing confusion and dissension (Church tradition). Wow Fr. Aquinas believed in a bible only approach, that is news to me. To use a quote from a Church father on every page of your website to write about something that isn't what he believed his entire life...interesting approach.
dannypoo -
I serve on gotquestions.org. Feel free to also link to my website that contains apologetic materials - www.confidentchristians.org. My site is still pretty young, and I'm still creating content, but there's some good stuff there now you can likely use.
schumacr, what website do you work on? I am building a website(its incomplete), one the goals of the website is to link and post to articles that are great christian resources (truthregardless.com). So I was hoping you could provide me with that website so I could possibly link to some of its articles.
e-mail: xdannypoox@aol.com
Desi06 –
I serve on a Christian web site that answers questions like this, and here’s how I answered one atheist’s charge of ‘prove to me homosexuality is bad without using the Bible’:
First, one interesting method for determining the morality of a particular act is to apply Kant’s categorical imperative to it. This says take the particular moral act in question, apply it on a global scale, and view the end results (note: this is for moral decision making only). So, for example, lying – what happens if everyone in the world consistently lied? First, rational and trusted communication becomes impossible. But even more interesting is that it defeats itself because for a lie to be “productive” it relies on its target to be expecting the truth.
So what happens if everyone in the world practices the loving, committed homosexual relationships that the gay community declares is their goal? The human race ceases to exist in a generation and the practice defeats itself because it eradicates the very ones who are following the mandate.
Any sex outside of the marriage institution that God established is considered sinful, not just acts of homosexuality. It’s not a matter of society progressing and becoming more enlightened to the practice of sex either. For example, it’s important to remember that Paul wrote in a day when homosexuality was practiced very openly in society. As educated as Paul was, he would have been quite familiar with the homoerotic love that was celebrated during this time and would certainly be familiar with the “marriage” of the emperor Nero and Sporus, who was a man that was altered via first century surgery to become Nero’s “wife”. Paul’s message against homosexuality was as counter-culture then as it is today.
Finally, the cry of being born that way is an irrelevant argument. I wasn’t born monogamous and I haven’t met a man who really was. If I wholly gave in to my “natural” inclinations (my fallen nature), I’d have sex with as many women as I could, but instead, I choose to live within God’s established boundaries and celebrate sex only with my wife.
Christians are always asked who they are to say homosexuality is wrong, but who are you to say it is OK? Are there any sexual practices you consider immoral (e.g. sex between adults and minors) and do you believe such practices will *always* be immoral? If so, why? Where do you draw that line and how do you determine it? And do you think your line could be re-established at some point in the future and if so, by what authority? How is your standard/foundation of morality in this area determined?
How Scientific evidence refutes the homosexual movement and their agenda:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3126
http://traditionalvalues.org/urban/three.php
http://traditionalvalues.org/urban/one.php
Homosexuality is a demonic lifestyle that destroys the family, manhood, womanhood, and childhood in order the mock at God's divine order and destroy the future generations of humanity. Many times youth are bent toward to same sex as they were exposed to sexual images of the same sex during puberty while lacking a father figure at home. This emotional disorder is spread primarily by pornography and child molestation from the same sex. Then feelings of rejection from the opposite-sex have perpetuated this unhealthy dysfunction into adulthood.
The not so glorious history of the homosexual has left nations less populated, sicker, and emotionally and financially drained. Even the vast majority of their leaders per capita have fought hard the preserve the STD curse on the earth, while taking pleasure in destroying the minds of children with despicable acts of lewdness and molestation.
I'm actually on the same page as dgnymn. Which makes me question whether my church is doing enough to confront what is going on in society. Yes, they have built a lot of hospitals across the nation that don't offer abortions. Yes, they have built a lot of universities across the nation that offer a great Christian education. However, what about building a whole Christian community? Didn't George Bush's brother Jeb down in Florida covert to Catholicism? Shouldn't they have built a city or something to protect Christian values?
It's TIME!!!! Yes, it's TIME, Christian believers who love Christ, and want only Christ glorified in their lives, children's lives and generations to come - to PULL YOUR CHILDREN FROM THIS SCHOOLS!!! If this means private schooling, fine, if this means HOME EDUCATION, that's even better!!! What will it take, believers, for you to wake up to the government indoctrination centers which are called "public education." It's a contradiction in terms. While it may appear public, it certainly is NOT education. How about propagandistic indoctrination!! And guess what? The taxpayers are funding it!!
It's TIME!! Yes, it's TIME FOR TAXPAYERS TO REFUSE TO PAY THEIR HARD-EARNED MONEY TO SUPPORT THESE DEVIANT AND PAGAN SEMINARIES CALLED "Public schools." As a citizen of Massachusetts, I can assure you that you have only begun to see the systematic destruction of family values and religious beliefs!!!
"Come out from among them," saith the Lord. "Be ye holy, as I am holy." And don't tell me that having a "Christian" teacher will make a difference. Not at all...because ALL teachers must abide by the curriculum. And don't tell me that the parent can overcome this when the student returns to home. How?? The children will be these "schools" close to 6-7 hours day. Do you have that kind of time to overcome what they'll be indocrinated into? I don't think so.
It's TIME!! It's time, BELIEVERS, to withdraw from these governmental institutions and education your own at home. It's what God commands anyway!!! He never authorized the State to train up your children in the way they should go, but that's where almost 90% of "Christian" families are doing. Wanna see the fruit? Keep them in there and wait 5-10 years. We won't recognize our nation by then!!!
This is yet another travesty in hour human history...that perversion would have it's sway in the lives of our young children! In the '60's is was..."just let us come out of the closet"...then it was "just allow us to "work" in your churches and schools", now it's let us debase the entire meaning of marriage and the family as God founded it. And now finally "WE WILL desecrate all that is left that's good of home/marriage/family life and "make God in our own image" and make what is perverse wrapped up in a sham of sympathetic "poor us...we just wanna be like you guys" and make it like it's normal, which it's NOT. Just one look at the physical body tells you that what they have to do to accomplish their sin is against what God made as normal. God Himself calls sodomy/homosexuality "an abomination" to Him, what does that tell you?! Homosexuality is the downfall of every society to date...check out history!