anti-harrassment training forces acceptance of homosexuality

[Eric McTavish]

Sometime I love my state... then sometimes...I'm glad I'm a displaced Yankee...

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/10950024.htm
Group claims anti-harrassment training forces acceptance of homosexuality
Associated Press

SUMMIT, Ky. - A student and two sets of parents are suing the Boyd County Board of Education, contending that anti-harrassment training forces students to accept homosexuality.

The student, Timothy Allen Morrison II, his parents, Timothy and Mary Morrison, and two other parents, Brian Nolen and Debora Jones, are represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal foundation that takes on religious rights cases.

The group claims the training violates their constitutional rights of free speech and religion.

Winter Huff, an attorney who represented the board in a previous lawsuit that led to the training, said in a written statement that nothing in the video training compels any particular belief.

The suit claims that the training and district harassment policies violate the students right to follow his religious beliefs because it prohibits him from telling gays that those who engage in destructive lifestyles, like homosexuality, are wrong.

The training was part of the settlement of a lawsuit against the district by a now-defunct gay-rights group.

The suit follows a roughly three-year struggle between gay and straight students and their supporters who wanted to form a gay-straight alliance club, and a sizable number of students, parents and others in the district who opposed the club.

[daBaroness]

Every misguided asshat has a slant, don't they?!

Is anyone else fed up with the courts and the media being constantly filled with this kind of rhetorical insanity - or am I the only insane one around?

Why the hell can't people just quit creating mountains from mole hills and let their fellow human inhabitants of the planet live their own lives, have their own beliefs, think their own thoughts and make their own life decisions without stepping in and attempting to take over (through litigation if possible) others' constitutionally-guaranteed right to self determination?!

Why the hell does a small proportion of the citizens of this country (and world for that matter) feel the need to legislate everyone else's morality, religion, and toileting schedule?

Am I mistaken, or does our constitution guarantee the separation of church and state? And isn't that the very reason our sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers are dying in the armpit known as Iraq?

Homophobia and all the other phobias out there seem to be directly spawned by the inability of religious zealots to practice what they have the right to preach (as guaranteed by the constitution). It's definitely a case of supporting our democractic and constitutional freedoms as long as they fall in line with our brand of religion and thinking.

I dunno - I think the answer is making these ignorant idiots stay after class for additional tutoring on constitutional rights, deprogramming of archaic and hate-mongering religious ideologies and administration of corporal punishment.

In short - spank 'em all soundly and make 'em write 100,000 times ... "I have no right to inflict and/or impose my narrow-minded way of thinking on others and I promise not to litigate religious ideologies any court of law - public or private."

Or maybe just "I am an asshat."

:lol:

[Nevada]

okay...let me see if I have this right....it's okay for them to express their personal or religious view on someones lifestyle...but it's not okay for them to be taught to keep their opinions to themselves or to not harrass others who have differeing lifestyles of religions.....good grief...

[Eric McTavish]

okay...let me see if I have this right....it's okay for them to express their personal or religious view on someones lifestyle...but it's not okay for them to be taught to keep their opinions to themselves or to not harrass others who have differeing lifestyles of religions.....good grief...

thats right they're saying that it's an infrigment on their beliefs not to allow them to tell others how wrong their gay "lifestyle" is...

[daBaroness]

My karma just crushed your dogma

:? :shock: :pokepoke:

[Nevada]

seems to me harrassment falls under the bullying segment that all schools seem so gung ho on enforcing.....

[Drea Beth]

okay...let me see if I have this right....it's okay for them to express their personal or religious view on someones lifestyle...but it's not okay for them to be taught to keep their opinions to themselves or to not harrass others who have differeing lifestyles of religions.....good grief...

thats right they're saying that it's an infrigment on their beliefs not to allow them to tell others how wrong their gay "lifestyle" is...


I think it is an infringement on their rights to not let them say that they feel that someone's lifestyle is wrong. Just like it would be an infringement on someone else's beliefs to not let them express their opinion on whatever topic. I have no problem with a person say "because of my religious beliefs, I feel that homosexuality is wrong." They have as much right to think and say that as anyone who feels it is right does. In my not so humble opinion, it's only harassment if said person who thinks it's wrong spends much time and effort in either a positive or not so positive way trying to force others to agree with them or change their minds of lifestyles.

And just because I'm feeling particularly argumentative today, I'm sure that there are more than a few folks out there who think homosexuality is wrong, against nature, whatever who are not right wing conservative bible bashing born again Christians. In fact, I happen to know some. Very nice people. Good people. Kind people. Decent people. People who feel that certain lifestyles are wrong, but are also willing to live and let live.

I'll stop now...

[Nevada]

yes they have the right to make that declaration...but no one has the right to harrass someone because they dont agree with someones decisions or lifestyles....is it the right thing to walk up to someone and tell them that "my religion says your going to hell because you live a deviant lifestyle" once fine...but unfortunately most dont stop at saying it once...they insist on hounding that individual because they are different...school is not the place to attempt conversion to anyones religion..it is supposed to be a place where people can obtain an education without judgement on their personal life....i am not christian bashing in general...only upset with those who consider their personal crusade in life to convert or crush anyone who does not follow or live within their own doctrine.....it is a sad state when parents are angry when tolerance is trying to be shown in educational facilities...i believe that it states in the bible that Jesus was pretty big on tolerance and actually ministered to others tolerance of those who did not follow the Jewish faith.....or were the parables of the good samaritan misleading?

[Nevada]

sorry system tried to double post

[Drea Beth]

i believe that it states in the bible that Jesus was pretty big on tolerance and actually ministered to others tolerance of those who did not follow the Jewish faith.....or were the parables of the good samaritan misleading?

The obvious (and bad) joke here is to point out that Jesus wasn't Christian. :star:

I agree totally that nobody has the right to harass or hurt another individual. For any reason. I'm of the personal opinion that if people spend less time asking WWJD and more time DWJD (doing what Jesus did) the world would be a much better place.

[Nevada]

total agreement...one of the reasons I left christianity was the hypocrisy....so many were willing to quote Jesus, so few willing to live the teachings....treating people the way you want to be treated should have no religion attached to it...should be sheer common sense and courtesy....heavens forbid that should occur :shock:

[Dmitri]

Shoving one's morality down another's throat is unacceptable... and, at the end of the day, wrong.

Just as wrong as shoving your lifestyle down someone else's throat that feels it's wrong.

Both sides can and are just as wrong as the other MOST of the time.

[Absinthe d'Accalia]

Isn't there something in the bible about 'hate the sin, not the sinner,' or something along those lines? Which, in my interpretation would mean one could disagree with homosexuality/paganism/pick-the-supposed-sin-of-the-day, but could appreciate & befriend the person that is supposedly committing the aforementioned alleged sin(s).

[Drea Beth]

Isn't there something in the bible about 'hate the sin, not the sinner,' or something along those lines? Which, in my interpretation would mean one could disagree with homosexuality/paganism/pick-the-supposed-sin-of-the-day, but could appreciate & befriend the person that is supposedly committing the aforementioned alleged sin(s).

But realize, to many, loving the sinner means trying to bring them away from their sinful ways. If you love and care for someone, to stand by and allow them to continue to sin would be a sin in and of itself. Ignoring the sin and pretending it isn't there is, in effect, condoning said sin. Thus the desire to "save" the sinner.

[daBaroness]

I fully subscribe to the philosophy of live and let live ... or even hate the sin, love the sinner ... the problem is far too many morality police (no matter the religion) seem to think their personal salvation is somehow tied up in personal choices of others. These individuals (and groups) are not content to agree to disagree - are not content to live and let live - are not content to allow others their rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. That's where things get very scary for a whole lot of people because when one group tries to restrict the rights of another group then none of our rights are truly safe.

Sexual orientation is still the great last bastion of acceptable public discrimination because somewhere along the line the wording of the ammendments to the constitution assuming all men (citizens) are created equal has been reinterpreted by every special-interest group to include or exclude another special-interest group.

Until the 1960s - racial discimination was not only legal - it was the accepted norm in this country. People of color were viewed as somehow sub-human and therefore not covered by the consistution. Until the 1920s women didn't have the right to vote - and even today we're not regarded equitably in the workplace or in society in general - but we do have the law on our side now - we can file discrimination lawsuits - and win them. GLBT people have no such rule of law on their side and as such are subjected not only to being treated as second-class citizens, but there is a tendency by the institutions of our society including the workplace, the community of faith, housing and civil rights to blatently discriminate against these individuals - denying them the very same rights and priviledges we're all guaranteed merely because of their sexual orientation.

It's as if who we sleep with overrules our birthright to protection under law as citizens of the United States. To the extreme - it makes it acceptable to outrightly deny employment, health care, housing, education, and even protection by law enforcement to GLBT people. In extreme cases it denies due process to people who are assaulted, robbed and even murdered because of who they're attracted to.

In truth - these diversity awareness and sensitivity training courses offered by many employers and schools don't have to include sensitivity towards GLBT people. They merely have to cover issues of gender, race, ethnicity and religion. And speaking of religion - I don't know of a world religion that doesn't include the Golden Rule as part of it's teachings. So why is it that the most religiously zealot among us are the ones to least frequently practice one of the foundational tenants of their faith??? And indeed attempt to influence to government to follow suit.

I'm all for acceptance and celebration of our diversity - it's just that I think too often we neglect to celebrate those things that unite us. I guess it's still up to those of us who truly believe in our unalienable right to diversity and freedom to school those who would deny those same rights to others. I guess it become more of an obligation (at least to me) to exercise my freedom of speech by expressing my thoughts and opinions to those who'd insult and contrive to harm others. So, I guess that means any time I hear someone tell another person that they're scum or doomed to damnation or a valueless individual because of their sexual orientation, their color, their religion, their gender - I'm just going to have to jump in with both of my size 10s and tell *them* about their lack of humanity or Christianity or whatever platform from which they supposedly are granted the right to be an asshat to others.

Gosh - and I was afraid I was going to have some spare time to sew.