bullying

• An Arkansas judge has struck down Act 1, which was passed in 2008 in order ban against unmarried couples [i.e., gays] from adopting or foster-parenting children.
• The Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to dismiss the right-wing lawsuit against the Hate Crimes Act, saying "the Act does not proscribe speech. It prohibits only violent conduct and includes specific provisions ensuring that it may not be applied to infringe any rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
• Larry Klayman is now a columnist for WorldNetDaily where he'll fit right in.
• Did you know that David Barton's son, Tim, is carrying on the family tradition of spreading pseudo-history throughout the land?  Well, he is.
• Tim Goeglein always wanted to be a journalist ... until he got caught plagerizing.  So then he had to go work for President Bush and Focus on the Family.
• Behold the latest White House scandal:  President Obama isn't a real baseball fan!
• Finally, the quote of the day from the Illinois Family Institute's Laurie Higgins opposing efforts to end bullying: "But the part they leave out is it's trying to end bullying by normalizing homosexuality."

A few weeks ago we noted that Jim Garlow had been tapped to head Newt Gingrich's organization, Renewing American Leadership, where he will focus on getting pastors involved in cultural and social issues:

Much of what Garlow will be focusing on includes re-educating pastors about their moral and ethical responsibility to speak out on cultural issues impacting their flocks and their families. He said too many pastors have strayed from the historical context of when the pulpit was the main communicating point for social issues.

“I think most people realize the Bible has a lot to say about coming to Christ and growing in Christ,” the Wesleyan pastor, who has authored 11 books, said. “And then, in a process of time many people realize it has a lot to say about marriage and family, and lots to say about relationships. Most people would say the Bible has a lot to say about the nature of the church and how it is supposed to function, but what seems to be lacking so much is an awareness that the Bible actually speaks to the issue of national formation and how a nation is to function.”

He said clergy and other Christian leaders have become intimidated by secularist threats and with the notion that speaking out from the pulpit may offend their flock.

“What is so frustrating is there was a time when the pulpits thundered with the truth of the issues of civil governance and we’ve been largely emasculated. We’ve lost any sense of boldness of voice,” Garlow said.

But rest assured, even though he has teamed up with the likes of Gingrich to run an organization "dedicated to educating, organizing, training and mobilizing people of faith to renew American self-government and America’s role in the world," this is going to be a strictly non-partisan effort: 

Garlow describes his political passion more as a hobby that is completely separate from role he will play for ReAl.

“It’s a very distinct thing,” he said. “It comes from quite a different angle. It comes from a biblical (perspective), and my historical and theology training.”

...

In his pursuit of Judeo-Christian values, Garlow stressed his campaign will not be partisan.

“I did not sign up to be part of a party, Republican or Democrat or independent or tea party,” he said. “I did not sign up to identify with any candidate, including even Newt Gingrich. Although personally I hope he runs.

“I signed up for one reason, and that is because it causes the pulpit to be used for what it is supposed to be, and that is the bully pulpit; not bullying and tearing people down; but bullying in terms of influence and range, to speak to certain issues in the culture.”

Whether it’s dealing with the culture, politics, religious freedoms or the inherent issues that stem from being a church pastor, Garlow said his vision is to direct everything to the cross.

“I don’t have an interest in being over identified with a party,” he said. “I have a great interest in being identified with biblical issues. That was something I weighed very extensively. I was real clear and up front with (Gingrich). I said, ‘You need to know, though, I’m a patriot, and I’m American, I’m a proud American, I have no interest in elevating the country at the price of or failure to be able to exalt Christ.”

Sure, just like his Prop. 8, Better Courts Now, and Wilderness Outcry activism is all non-partisan.

Fox News was against anti-gay bullying before it was for it. Or so it would seem.

Anyone who’s been watching Fox lately knows that GLSEN – which promotes tolerance and safety in schools and was founded by Obama school safety “czar” Kevin Jennings – is supposedly engaged in a secret plot to turn straight kids gay. That’s why right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin was so surprised when she saw a GLSEN ad on Fox yesterday:

Interesting. (Un)safe schools czar Kevin Jennings's GLSEN is running public service ad on...Fox News.

But she shouldn’t have been surprised. Just a year ago Fox News headliner Bill O’Reilly lavished praise on the group’s anti-bullying ad campaign and ‘patriot’ Hilary Duff:

But now that Kevin Jennings has a political target painted on his back, Fox is making GLSEN out to be public enemy #1. That’s just hypocritical nonsense.

GLSEN’s work is crucial and straightforward. It promotes tolerance and safety for all children, regardless of sexual orientation. Nothing more, nothing less. Even Fox has recognized the value of the group’s work.

Meanwhile the bashing of Kevin Jennings goes on, with Fox, the Washington Times, Limbaugh, and right-wing blogs taking turns. But the Obama Administration has given Jennings its full support. And the only way to defeat bullies is to refuse to give in to them.

[Jason Linkins at Huffington Post also reported on this story]

Here we go again.

The right-wing campaign against Kevin Jennings is now getting picked up by the "mainstream media" ... if one can consider Fox News to be a part of the MSM.  Either way, Fox has now posted this long article on Jennings that is basically a collection of the greatest hits of right-wing attacks against him and features quotes from the likes of Peter LaBarbera and Peter Sprigg:

Social conservatives are up in arms about yet another White House czar. This time it's Kevin Jennings, President Obama's director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS).

Jennings was appointed to the position largely because of his longtime record of working to end bullying and discrimination in schools. In 1990, as a teacher in Massachusetts, he founded the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which now has over 40 chapters at schools nationwide. He has also published six books on gay rights and education, including one that describes his own experiences as a closeted gay student.

But critics say Jennings is too radical for the job, citing what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, his writings about his past drug abuse, his onetime contempt for religion and an incident in 1998 in which he did not report an underage student who told him he was having sex with older men.

...

"Jennings was obviously chosen for this job because of the safe schools aspect... defining 'safe schools' narrowly in terms of 'safe for homosexuality'," Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, told FOXNews.com.

"But at least half of the job involves creating drug-free schools, and we've not been offered any evidence about what qualifications Jennings has for promoting drug-free schools."

...

Sprigg countered that nobody has adequately answered the questions that are being raised about Jennings.

Speaking of Jennings' job, he said: "I think it's unfortunate that [it] is a position that did not require any sort of confirmation process, because there are a lot of serious questions about Jennings and there has not been any forum in which Jennings has been required to answer the questions."

• The American Center for Law and Justice has managed to pressure the Connecticut Department of Children and Families into taking down part of its web site describing a program to train care givers on the needs of gay young people.
• Michael Steele knows what it takes to win more African American converts to the GOP: collard greens, fried chicken, and potato salad.
• The Washington Post profiles Randall Terry.  The article is pretty informative and entertaining so you should be sure to read it.
• For the record, I would just like to note that Janet Porter's Faith 2 Action website has an entire section dedicated to the issue of Barack Obama's birth certificate and citizenship.
• MassResistance continues to allege that Google is "blocking" its blog.
• The Right keeps trotting out its standard hate crimes lies in order to oppose anti-bullying legislation.
• It is worth noting that Alveda King is asserting that her uncle, Martin Luther King Jr., was not a Republican, in contrast to various right-wing claims that he was:

“Martin Luther King Jr. was not a Republican or Democrat,” said Alveda King, who was previously elected to the Georgia House as a Democrat, but later appointed to state and federal commissions by Republicans. “But everybody uses Martin Luther King Jr.’s name for their own benefit.”

With hate crimes legislation scheduled to be voted on in the Senate next week, the Religious Right seems somewhat resigned to the fact that they do not have to votes to stop it or even slow it down, but that doesn't mean that they aren't trying.

Yesterday was apparently "National 'Stop S. 909' Day" during which "the American Family Association, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and other conservative activist groups [urged] their supporters to call, e-mail, fax, or visit their senators today to express their disapproval of S. 909, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Senate Bill 909)."

James Dobson and Tony Perkins discussed it on Dobson's radio program yesterday, with Dobson proclaiming that its passage would be used to silence pastors and Focus on the Family is calling on its activists to contact their senators and ""ask them to oppose S.909 or 'hate-crimes' legislation in any form."

Of course, as we've pointed out before, the Religious Right doesn't really oppose "hate crimes legislation in any form," they just oppose protection for gays.

But since it looks like they'll be unable to stop the legislation's passage, they appear to be turning their attention toward stopping efforts to amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying and harassment prevention program because it also provides protection based on sexual orientation ... and so they are trotting out the exact same bogus claims they used in opposing hate crimes legislation:

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a so-called bullying bill that would require public schools to spell out special categories in their discipline policies, including "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."

Family advocates say it will pave the way for a pro-homosexual, adult-driven agenda in public schools.

The name of the bill is Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Focus on the Family's Education Analyst Candi Cushman explained that there is a way to deal with the issue in a fair and objective way, without sexualizing and politicizing the school environment.

"We recognize that bullying and the harm it causes in the lives of kids is tragic and shouldn't be allowed to happen," Cushman said. "We agree schools should be encouraged to have strong policies prohibiting bullying—applied equally and across the board, against any child for any reason."

She said parents need to keep a close watch on the progress of the bill, because if it passes, it could be used to undermine parental rights and local control.

"People need to realize that gay activists will use this federal mandate as the leverage they need to get promotion of homosexuality into public schools," Cushman cautioned.

Jeremiah Dys, president of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, said the bill's language is taking the focus off of the real problem.

"A bully is a bully because he's a bully, not because of who he bullies," Dys said. "The rules ought to be enforced against the bullies regardless of who they're bullying or what actions he takes."

The Traditional Values Coalition has also come out against it by tying it into the Religious Right's crusade against Kevin Jennings, claiming it turn the nation's public schools into bastions of homosexuality:

If this legislation is passed, it will permit Jennings to spend millions of our tax dollars to push the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender agenda in schools under the guise of fighting “bullying” and allegedly promoting “school safety.”

...

Jennings will use millions of our tax dollars to push the promotion of lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender behaviors upon hundreds of thousands of school districts throughout our nation.

Make no mistake: The Safe Schools Improvement Act is an ATM machine for the LGBT agenda. Issues about school safety and bullying are simply smokescreens to hide the real agenda.

Note the definitions of bullying and harassment. Under this bill, any gay or cross-dressing teen who is “bullied” or “harassed,” can claim protection. It includes a teen’s “actual or perceived” sexual orientation or gender identity (code for cross-dressers or transsexuals).

If a straight teen criticizes the sexual behavior of a gay or cross-dressing teen, he is guilty of bullying or harassment. This is a direct attack upon free speech.

Let's take a look at the definitions of bullying and harrassment, as TVC suggests, shall we:

(12) BULLYING- The term `bullying' means conduct that--

`(A) adversely affects the ability of one or more students to participate in or benefit from the school's educational programs or activities by placing the student (or students) in reasonable fear of physical harm; and

`(B) includes conduct that is based on--

`(i) a student's actual or perceived--

`(I) race;

`(II) color;

`(III) national origin;

`(IV) sex;

`(V) disability;

`(VI) sexual orientation;

`(VII) gender identity; or

`(VIII) religion;

`(ii) any other distinguishing characteristics that may be defined by a State or local educational agency; or

`(iii) association with a person or group with one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics listed in clause (i) or (ii).

`(13) HARASSMENT- The term `harassment' means conduct that--

`(A) adversely affects the ability of one or more students to participate in or benefit from the school's educational programs or activities because the conduct, as reasonably perceived by the student (or students), is so severe, persistent, or pervasive; and

`(B) includes conduct that is based on--

`(i) a student's actual or perceived--

`(I) race;

`(II) color;

`(III) national origin;

`(IV) sex;

`(V) disability;

`(VI) sexual orientation;

`(VII) gender identity; or

`(VIII) religion;

`(ii) any other distinguishing characteristics that may be defined by a State or local educational agency; or

`(iii) association with a person or group with one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics listed in clause (i) or (ii).

Bullying entails "reasonable fear of physical harm" and harassment must be "severe, persistent, or pervasive" but, just as they did with hate crimes, the Right is completely misrepresenting this legislation.

And notice also that they are not complaining about the protections included for religion or race - they are simply opposed to protections for gays.

It's becoming pretty clear that even after the hate crimes legislation is passed by Congress and signed into law, we can look forward to having the same exact fight over anti-bullying legislation, complete with the same exact right-wing scare-tactics and false claims.

As Catholics for a Free Choice recently explained in their report [PDF] on the Catholic League, the organization’s head, Bill Donohue, has more or less made a name for himself by attacking popular culture, complaining incessantly, manufacturing controversy, trying to intimidate his perceived enemies, and bullying and silencing the opposition.

As we noted yesterday, Donohue had been one of the most vocal critics of John Hagee, ranting loudly about Hagee’s perceived anti-Catholic views while saying nothing about Hagee’s other controversial positions, such as the idea that God used Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its tolerance of homosexuality.   But after weeks of railing against Hagee, Donohue finally got what he wanted – a public letter of apology – and abruptly declared the mission accomplished and the feud over:

The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it. Indeed, the Catholic League welcomes his apology. What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns. But he has done just that. Now Catholics, along with Jews, can work with Pastor Hagee in making interfaith relations stronger than ever. Whatever problems we had before are now history. This case is closed.

While Donohue maintained a measured tone in his Catholic League press release, his sense of self-satisfaction at forcing Hagee to publicly grovel for his forgiveness came shining through in this exchange with Beliefnet’s Dan Gilgoff:

In your statement today, you said that Hagee’s apology was born of weeks of meetings with Catholic leaders. Do you have a window into what that process was like?

It’s been going on for weeks. A lot of Catholic activist friends of mine and some evangelicals have been powwowing with [Hagee] in Washington. They asked me to meet with Hagee and I said no several times. I’m not interested in meeting with him until I get what I want, a public statement and apology that’s complete and speaks specifically to these black legends about Catholics-Jewish relations, and the Holocaust in particular. And once that’s accomplished, I’ll be glad to meet with him. Now that’s going to happen on Thursday.

Quite frankly, I didn’t think that I would get something this complete. What I did not want to get was this “If you’ve been offended, I’m sorry.” I wanted something more specific. There’s no substitute for personal interaction, when you have people sitting down with you and explaining how you’ve been hurtful. Now we can bury this hatchet. It’s rather dramatic….

What really got me offended was the idea of “I’m the purist Christian on the block” when he’s talking to Jews—“I’m not out there persecuting the Jews like all these Catholics.” I’m sure we’ve seen the last of that.

Donohue went on to recall that he had first written to Hagee eleven years ago about his anti-Catholic views, but that “he never wrote back” and “blew me off” until he suddenly found himself under “enormous pressure because I went after him after he endorsed McCain … He got rapped all over the place” and had to beg Donohue’s forgiveness; a development one senses that Donohue couldn't be more pleased about.

But if Hagee thinks this apology is going to get him invited to the cool kid’s parties, Donohue wants it known that he’s sadly mistaken:

People like Tony Perkins and Richard Land and James Dobson, we obviously have theological differences, but there has always been comity and an amicable relationship. I get involved with them occasionally on policy things, like Justice Sunday, and Hagee is not only not invited, his name is not even mentioned. He’s kind of out of the loop.

The session on Homosexuality and Youth was dominated by the youth division of Exodus, an organization that believes gays can and should be “healed” and that LGBT people should not be protected against legal discrimination. Exodus opposes legal recognition of same-sex couples, same-sex parenting and adoption, and hate crimes laws. The session drew attention to efforts by Exodus and others to put a friendly face on its anti-gay message. In response to pro-tolerance and anti-harassment campaigns by pro-equality students, like the Day of Silence, Exodus is promoting a product called “Truth and Tolerance,” (truthandtolerance.net) designed to put anti-gay students on record against bullying (alliestoo.org), and calling for tolerance of students who want to make the case that gay youth need to be straightened out by God. The session was moderated by Scott Davis from Exodus’ youth division. Davis, a former campus minister, blamed homosexuality on the sexual revolution and broken families, and said that young people are searching for intimacy. He said young people need to be taught a “biblical view of gender” and called on participants to help rescue teens by teaching and modeling “correct” genders, mentoring, and giving them a reason to be pure – a deep intimacy with God. (Some “reparative” therapies work on turning gays straight by making the women wear makeup and use purses, while men play football and learn to fix cars as the first step to becoming “real men.”) Mike Ensley, also affiliated with the Exodus youth section, called himself a “former homosexual” who “never wanted to be gay.” Ensley said relational ministry has helped him correct his “misperceptions” of gender and that Exodus “rescued” him, though he said change is not a 180 degree turnaround but an “ongoing process.” Ensley, like many other conference speakers, also argued that hate crimes laws are being used to “silence” Christians. Christine, a young woman who leads Worthy Creations, a “recovery” ministry affiliated with Exodus, said she was homosexual at age 15. She criticized church leaders who don’t want to talk about homosexuality, saying pro-gay “propaganda” is everywhere. Like other conference speakers, Christine said there are new reasons for teens to be involved in homosexuality. In contrast to “classic lesbianism,” to use Ensley's terminology, where women who experienced abuse or were taught that men aren’t safe, girls are now becoming lesbians because of a “try it out and see if you like it” mentality. Christine’s message to young women who try it and like it is that their conclusion shouldn’t be that they are gay, but that “everything works” physically: “Even very unhealthy relationships can feel good,” she said, drawing a parallel to some abused children she said experience pleasure from sexual abuse. Christine argued that there are four types of homosexuals that need to be dealt with: 1. Militant - Christians need to defend against activists without attacking gays. 2. Moderate - gays who are not ‘out and proud;’ Christians should reach out to them as ambassadors for Christ. 3. Repentant - people who are struggling with being gay or “coming out of homosexuality” and attracted to groups like Exodus. Kristine says she is appalled that some Christians don’t offer them more support. 4. Gay and Christian - sincere but part of “the deception” because they are believing a lie. Regina Griggs heads PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, though her own son came out nine years ago and apparently shows no interest in becoming “ex-gay.” She blames school counselors and Gay-Straight Alliance clubs for giving young people information that leads to affirmation of a gay identity. The biggest problem, she said, is that parents aren’t standing up to schools and need to be more involved.

A few weeks ago, we noted that Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, appeared to be quietly positioning to become one of the Right’s leading powerbrokers and had been more-or-less openly challenging James Dobson.  

In that post, we mentioned that Land publicly came out against Dobson’s gracelessly obvious attempt to back Newt Gingrich while simultaneously quashing Fred Thompson’s potential candidacy.  Land heaped praise on Thompson as a “Southern-fried Reagan” while saying that Gingrich cannot be trusted.  

Apparently, we were not the only ones who have noticed Land’s pro-Thompson efforts:

Mr. Land said Mr. Thompson's wife, Jeri Kehn, telephoned to thank him for a complimentary newspaper column. On Saturday, Mr. Thompson phoned to say he wanted Mr. Land present at any campaign kickoff.

In the past few election cycles, Dobson has been an aggressive campaigner for right-wing candidates.  But in a recent interview with Reuters, Dobson suggested that politics is a sideline, not his primary concern: 

In an interview, the founder and chairman of the influential conservative advocacy and counseling group Focus on the Family said that politics was a sideline to his real passion: helping families via his books, radio show and counseling services.

"It's not Focus on Politics, it's Focus on the Family," he told Reuters at his spacious office that offer breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

With current polls showing Giuliani leading the Republican pack, and some polls suggesting that Thompson would immediately be among the front-runners if he enters the race, Dobson could find himself increasingly marginalized as a political power broker.  Lucky for him, all that political bullying and campaigning is not his “real passion.”

This article incorrectly reported the circumstances of a phone call from former Sen. Fred Thompson and his wife about the possible launch of a presidential campaign. The call was received by Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who said, "No date or time frame was mentioned."