Religions > Atheism > Group Sees Hypocrisy in Schools' Embracing 'Gay Pride,' Rejecting 'In God We Trust'
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"RoB WADe" |
| Date: |
22 Oct 2005 02:51:06 PM |
| Object: |
Group Sees Hypocrisy in Schools' Embracing 'Gay Pride,' Rejecting 'In God We Trust' |
Group Sees Hypocrisy in Schools' Embracing 'Gay Pride,' Rejecting 'In
God We Trust'
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
(AgapePress) - The same school board that ignored parents' objections
and allowed what many regard as a "gay pride" flag to be placed in a
Livingston County, Michigan, high school has repeatedly rejected the
idea of displaying posters featuring the U.S. national motto "In God We
Trust."
Despite outrage from pro-family community members, Howell (Michigan)
High School has refused to take down the rainbow-colored "diversity
flag" that some students and parents who associate the emblem with
homosexual pride find offensive. However, when the group called the
Livingston Organization for Values in Education, or LOVE, offered to
donate framed copies of "In God We Trust" posters for classroom
display, the Howell Board of Education turned down the offer.
Some board members have argued that the community members protesting
the rainbow flag are misinterpreting its meaning and significance. The
flag was hung by the Howell High School's Diversity Club with the
school administration's permission; and according to its defenders, the
flag denotes tolerance, inclusion, and acceptance for all -- not
necessarily promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
Some Howell school officials believe LOVE's primary agenda in pushing
the national motto poster and prolonging debate over the rainbow flag
is simply to pressure the district to remove the flag and change its
diversity policy. In a recent Ann Arbor News report, Howell School
Board president Mary Jo Dymond said she and the other board members
have moved on from this nearly two-year-old issue, and others who want
to continue fighting over the "diversity flag" need to move on as well.
Nevertheless, LOVE spokeswoman Vicki Fyke says her group is not giving
up the fight. "We will be at every school board meeting, asking again
for some reconsideration," she insists. Meanwhile, the concerned
citizens group is pressing the issue in other ways.
One LOVE member, Howell resident Tom Mallon, has e-mailed a letter to
the school board and to Superintendent Chuck Briener, sharply
criticizing the school officials' decision to refuse the national motto
poster. In the letter, Ann Arbor News reports, Mallon claimed the
district has demonstrated "a proclivity to disregard the traditional
values" for which his group stands, and has stifled debate over these
issues.
At the same time, Fyke points out, "We're educating the public. We're
putting together some brochures, and we're going to make a mailing to
the people that signed the marriage amendment and ask for some help.
Now that we realize [the school board] won't listen to reason, maybe
they'll listen to some numbers."
The LOVE representative feels the school board is promoting a one-sided
view of diversity by displaying the homosexual pride flag while
spurning the "In God We Trust" poster. She believes the board is
demonstrating its bias and hypocrisy by censoring the national motto
while embracing the controversial "gay pride" symbol to promote
homosexuality.
"In trying to make one group of children feel comfortable, they have no
problem offending another group of children," Fyke contends. "So we're
just trying to find a way to bring common sense to the cause and see if
we can find a way to make all the kids feel comfortable to go to
school."
According to the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy,
three circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals have upheld the
constitutionality of the national motto. Nevertheless, the Howell
School Board has repeatedly rejected the offer of the In God We Trust
poster, giving as its reason that the issue of the separation of church
and state is still being debated in court.
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| User: "The Secretary of HomInt3rn" |
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| Title: Re: Group Sees Hypocrisy in Schools' Embracing 'Gay Pride,' Rejecting 'In God We Trust' |
23 Oct 2005 09:35:19 AM |
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I was busily flonking away in alt.politics.homosexuality, when The Goddess
Eris Herself suddenly made me reply to RoB WADe:
Group Sees Hypocrisy in Schools' Embracing 'Gay Pride,' Rejecting 'In
God We Trust'
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
One of the "rights" held most dear by Xian fundies of the RRR (in both
Canada and the US) is the "right" to stuff their religion down every non-
or insufficiently Xian throat. Without any backtalk, either. At least, it
would be if anyone would let them have it...
--
___________________________________________________________________________
Hail Eris! "The personal _is_ political."
Bent Depraved N. Deviant *****-Smoker, Esq., Superfaggot
"Stupidity excuses nothing. It's only a reason...." -- Phxbrd
Economic Left/Right: -7.63 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38
"The whining has just begun." -- John Wentzky
Killfiled by: directory; Anim8rfsk
"It's not nice to misrepresent Mother Nature."
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