Education

“Is your child’s classroom becoming a recruiting ground for Islam?” asks ACT! for America, the burgeoning anti-Muslim group led by activist Brigitte Gabriel. In a recent program of their new television show, ACT! for America discussed the organization’s new “textbook project” and how the head of their Sarasota, Florida chapter interrogated schools about their textbooks.

The group’s Sarasota chapter is led by Rich Swier, a Tea Party activist who yesterday warned that as a result of same-sex marriage and lower birthrates, “the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) population in America is headed for extinction and with it our economy, well-being and survival as a uniquely America culture.”

Swier told ACT! for America’s Brant Travis: “I would encourage every parent and grandparent that [sic] look at your child’s and grandchild’s textbook, it is not the same textbook that you grew up with, it is dramatically different, it is I would almost say anti-American.”

In Texas, the ultraconservative State Board of Education already passed a resolution alleging that “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted some past Texas Social Studies textbooks” and warned they would reject textbooks with “gross pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in Social Studies texts.”

Watch:

Yesterday, RWW reported on the Religious Right’s virulent opposition to a California bill that would make sure lesbian and gay historical figures are represented in the curriculum. Now, Focus on the Family’s political arm CitizenLink is linking the curriculum bill to the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in its post “Indoctrination 101: From the Battlefield to the Ball Field.” Focus on the Family has consistently railed against “homosexual indoctrination” in schools and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, demanding its reinstatement. CitizenLink looks to traditionally anti-gay groups such as the Center for Military Readiness and the Pacific Justice Institute, along with its affiliated California Family Council, to blast the purported “indoctrination”:

The California Senate Education Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would mandate public schools teach U.S. history, California history and social science with a deliberate emphasis on the roles and contributions of gay- and lesbian-identified individuals, as well as those of transsexuals and bisexuals.

“It seems a bit like a quota system,” said Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council. “It’s based less on the level of contribution and more on one’s sexual orientation.”

Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said: “Our Legislature just doesn’t get it — with thousands of teachers getting pink slips, this is not the time to place more expensive, politically correct mandates on our schools. This bill also undermines parental rights and is insensitive to those whose cultures and belief systems are at odds with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) agenda.”

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Meanwhile, the military has been ordered to “re-educate” its members on similar issues. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee soon will hold hearings on the repeal of the law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which prevented open homosexuality in the military.

In 1993, the House and Senate conducted 12 hearings and field trips before passing the policy. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, said the committee needs to hold a similar number before any repeal is made permanent.

“Imposition of LGBT law and policies on our military would be enormously complicated and anything but simple,” she said. “Members of Congress must ask questions and insist on honest answers.”

Among the issues Donnelly wants addressed: sexual privacy violations; “zero tolerance” of dissent; impact of sexual misconduct on unit cohesion and trust in leadership; infringements on religious liberty for chaplains and people of faith; plans to accommodate same-sex couples in military family housing; LGBT “sensitivity” training in all Defense Department training programs, academies and schools; and personal dress and behavior.

A proposal in the California State Senate that incorporates the state’s important LGBT historical figures into the social studies curriculum is stirring up intense anger on the anti-gay Right. Known as the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, S.B. 48 ensures that schools discuss the contributions made by “gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” along with a multitude of other groups, including “Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, [and] European Americans.” But the militantly anti-gay group Save California is fiercely resisting the measure.

Save California, which is led by Randy Thomasson, already runs the “Rescue Your Children” campaign against public schools. The group’s “ten reasons to leave your government-run school” includes “#1 homosexual-bi-trans indoctrination;” “#2 abortion indoctrination;” “#3 condom/birth control indoctrination;” “#4 anti-God, pro-evolution indoctrination;” and “#9 Anti-Christian indoctrination and widespread rejection of religious and moral values.” Thomasson was also a strong opponent of California’s Harvey Milk Day, which he called a “moral crime,” saying “teachers, principals, and schools that push Harvey Milk's values are responsible for the degradation of children as human beings.”

Thomasson now tells WorldNetDaily that SB 48 will lead to “the worst school sexual indoctrination ever”:

Randy Thomasson of the family-promoting SaveCalifornia.com said parents "don't want and children don't need 'LGBTIQ' role models in school."

"S.B. 48 micromanages public schools by forcing teachers, administrators, local school boards, textbooks, and instructional materials to promote a gaggle of sexual lifestyles that disturb parents and confuse kids," Thomasson said. "This costly state mandate targets children for sexual brainwashing, behind the backs of parents, teaching boys and girls to admire those who engage in homosexual, bisexual or transsexual behavior."

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In a letter to Rep. Alan Lowenthall, chairman of the Senate Education Committee where the vote – six Democrats in favor and three Republicans opposed – was recorded, Thomasson's organization had opposed the plan.

"On behalf of the millions of parents we serve and the children they love, please oppose S.B. 48, which is the most radical sexual indoctrination ever of children in California public schools, which are supposed to be about academics," the letter said.

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"The California public schools are no longer safe places for boys and girls morally," he told WND. "This new bill, S.B. 48, reflects the desire of the Democrat state legislators to recruit boys and girls to support the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda both personally and publicly."

When the state of New Jersey ordered the closure of a school named after President Barack Obama over waning enrollment numbers, right-wing commentator Jeannie DeAngelis knew who was responsible: President Obama. Not because of the President’s education policies, but for his support of a woman’s right to choose. DeAngelis, like many others in the anti-choice movement, espouse the erroneous conspiracy theory that abortion providers are targeting the African-American community. Writing for RenewAmerica, the conservative blogger blames Obama’s advocacy of abortion-rights for having black children “eliminated long before they could register for kindergarten”:

Sad to say, but Barack H. Obama Elementary School in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a school whose student body is 94% black, is being forced to close its doors. Due to a "steep decline in total enrollment" this summer, the school will shut off the loudspeaker and ring the dismissal bell for the very last time.

"Bruce N. Rodman, the state-appointed official who manages the school district's finances, said enrollment at the Obama school had seen a 35 percent drop over the past ten years."

How ironic, an institution named after a President who is a champion of Planned Parenthood, an organization that prides itself on providing accessible "reproductive services" to black women, is being forced to close because potential students were eliminated long before they could register for kindergarten.

The empty seats at Barack H. Obama Elementary School, formerly known as Bangs Elementary, are a visible testimony to the success of the abortion policies America's first black president proudly supports. If the school's namesake were invited to speak at a school assembly, thanks to the type of pro-abortion policy he promotes the guest of honor would find the auditorium filled with a small cluster of children and only hear a faint echo of clapping from somewhere in the last row.

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Instead the school is closing, and when it does, the unintentional message is that the students emerging through those double doors are a but a small percentage of living, breathing survivors who, despite Planned Parenthood's efforts, miraculously managed to escape being victims of an abortion policy the "Barack H. Obama" brand continues to endorse.

On today's episode of Faith and Freedom Radio, the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver and Matt Barber railed against a live-sex demonstration that occured at Northwestern University, with Barber inexplicably blaming it on the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood, and GLSEN, whom he claimed were out to "poison the minds of these young children" by "taking a sledgehammer to the cornerstone institutions of marriage and family" in an effort to "obliterate them" and institute "sexual anarchy," which will ultimately destroy society.

And, of course, the real culprit here is Kevin Jennings, whom Staver accused of literally promoting pedophilia while Barber suggested that he might be using drugs:

A writer for the far-right Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview wonders whether any of the Wisconsin labor protesters are genuine Christians, and also says she is “pretty certain” that Martin Luther King Jr. would have opposed the Wisconsinites protesting Governor Scott Walker’s plans to dismantle the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

Of course, it was King who condemned so-called “right to work” laws because their “purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone,” and also told the AFL-CIO that “our needs are identical with labor’s needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor.”

But according to Singer, who used his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” as evidence, King would have disapproved of the demonstrators. Singer even believes that any Christian should disapprove of the protesters who will “lead this nation to anarchy”:

Note that King acknowledged that the Birmingham city government had a legitimate right to require groups to have a permit before leading a peaceful demonstration in their city. However, knowing that his organization had been denied a permit as a way of preventing them from showing their opposition to unjust segregation laws, he willingly broke the permit law, yet he showed his "highest respect for law" by his willingness to pay the penalty.

What, by contrast, have some of the teachers in Wisconsin done? They called in sick (a lie), they accepted fake doctor's excuses in an attempt to cover up their actions (another lie), they forced their schools to close (defrauding their employers, cheating the children they claim to care about, and causing working parents to scramble to find day care), and they now expect to be paid for their deceit (estimates of the cost for paying for their "sick days" range from $6 million to $10 million, which means they are willing to steal from the taxpayers who must foot the bill).

In other words, they want to protest what they consider an unjust law (which is certainly their right and duty as American citizens), they broke the law to do it, but they are not willing to pay the price for their civil disobedience. I seriously doubt King -- who knew something about paying the steep cost of his convictions -- would approve for he knew too well that such cowardly, narcissistic and dishonest actions would only lead to anarchy.

As I watched the demonstrations on television, I had to wonder how many of the people in the crowd consider themselves Christians -- and how many of those Christians were participating in committing this act of fraud against the state of Wisconsin.

I can only hope that those who are guilty will have an attack of conscience: that the Spirit will bring to their mind the list of sins which God hates the most (Proverbs 6:16-18) so they can see their fault, repent, confess, and then make restitution to those they have harmed. If they don't, then they should expect to pay a different price -- one determined by a righteous and just God who never overlooks sin.

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However, we won't have the wisdom we need from God if we have put ourselves outside His will by committing the sins He most despises, the sins that will only lead this nation to anarchy.

Conservative activist Alan Caruba usually works as a shill for corporations and is the former communications director of the American Policy Committee, which staunchly opposes environmental protections and the United Nations. Instead of criticizing regulations on businesses, Caruba yesterday launched a tirade against the Obama administration’s decision to stop defending the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, calling marriage equality “an act of societal suicide” and the administration’s decision “a stealth attack on the nation.” He also derided the Obama administration for bringing the “homosexual agenda” in schools, appointing Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, and repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell:

I have always thought that "gay" was an odd choice of words to describe homosexuals because those whom I have known rarely evinced much happiness about being regarded by the rest of society as aberrations. They may have made their personal peace with it, but the notion that a society based on heterosexuality should regard them as "normal" defies logic.

Granting homosexuals the right to marry is an act of societal suicide. I will cite some examples below.

In late February, the White House and its Department of Justice announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. It is a warning of moral decay that America has reached a point where it requires a law to assert this definition, recognized from the dawn of civilization, of mankind itself.

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This is giving parents fits, but it was President Obama who installed Kevin Jennings as the White House "safe schools" czar in the Department of Education even though Jennings is a major homosexual activist who has pushed the homosexual agenda in the nation's schools. Jennings, prior to his appointment, was the founder and executive director of the nationwide Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network.

President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to a lifetime position as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court despite her activism as Dean of the Harvard Law School during which she expelled military recruiters over the Armed Forces' ban on homosexuals. She called it a "moral injustice of the first order." She was known for recruiting homosexual activists to the school's faculty such as the former ACLU lawyer, William Rubenstein, to teach "queer" legal theory and elevated an outspoken lesbian professor, Janet Halley. She encouraged Harvard students to get involved in homosexual activist legal work.

These White House appointments are just one part of what millions of Americans have come to realize as measures taken to undermine the nation's moral authority, its legal system, its economy, its military strength and defense, and its energy security.

In 2012 Americans will clean house in the White House and the Congress, electing men and women who understand that homosexuality is an unfit condition for marriage, for service in the military, and that its justification in the states and the courts is a stealth attack on the nation.

If you need any more proof that "strategic level spiritual warfare" is makings its way from the outward fringes into the heart of the Religious Right movement, look no further than this new Family Research Council prayer update calling upon its activists to "tear down the spiritual strongholds" of Planned Parenthood by holding prayer rallies outside the offices of their members of Congress this Friday: 

Planned Parenthood's activities are an affront to our faith, our understanding of what is right and wrong, the dignity of every human being -- born and unborn, Biblical morality as it applies to human sexuality, our God-given parental rights and the sacred jurisdiction and integrity of every family and its God-given responsibility to protect its young, and much, much more. Moreover they are an affront to our Heavenly Father who has conferred on each of us the right to life from the moment of our conception in the womb, especially since we are made in His image and likeness.

Planned Parenthood's lies have been embraced by many decent Americans, including leaders in our federal government. They have an army of dedicated activists who support them, who march, make calls to Congress, and who support candidates who advocate abortion.

This is not just a matter of philosophical, religious, moral education. Spiritual strongholds prevent many hearts from being moved by plain truth regarding abortion and its impact upon the unborn, individuals, families and society.

Only prayer can tear down the spiritual strongholds that have made Planned Parenthood's deadly achievements possible and their acceptance by large numbers of the American people. Only prayer can pull down the strongholds that motivated once pro-life politicians to compromise their faith in God and moral truth, and to abandon any tender compassion for human life -- all for the sake of political ambition.

Tony is asking pro-life churches, prayer groups, and individuals to help turn the tide by extraordinary prayer over the next few days during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He is asking pro-life Christians across America to take just one hour to pray outside their Congressman or one of their Senators' state offices this Friday. Tony asks that you simply go onsite and to stand vigil in unobtrusive prayer from Noon until 1 PM. Go in a group or go pray alone but go! Help us make sure that there is prayer outside every Representative and Senator's office this Friday. No protest, no signs, no controversy -- just heartfelt prayer.

• Raise up an army of praying believers through whom You can pull down the spiritual strongholds and end taxpayer subsidies for this death-dealing industry. May believers gather at the workplaces of our Representatives and Senators in all 50 states. Turn our Senators' hearts and cause them to vote aright. Orchestrate a Concert of Prayer through that Friday noon hour that will please your heart and undo the dark spiritual forces that have prevailed until now. In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Mark your calendars on April 18th for Focus on the Family’s “Day of Dialogue.”

After the anti-gay ministry Exodus International dropped the “Day of Truth,” an event that tries to counteract GLSEN’s “Day of Silence,” which takes place on April 15th and opposes anti-gay bigotry in schools, Focus on the Family took over and renamed it the “Day of Dialogue.” The website features stories of people “leaving homosexuality” and criticizes GLSEN and the Day of Silence.

Candi Cushman, who leads Focus on the Family’s “True Tolerance” campaign against anti-bullying programs, wants to introduce the Day of Dialogue with a positive spin:

Focus on the Family rolled out its Day of Dialogue™ campaign today with one goal in mind: To encourage honest and respectful conversation among students about the fact that God cares about our relationships, our sexuality and our souls. The nationwide event, which began in 2005 as the Day of Truth, will take place April 18.

Through the Day of Dialogue, Focus hopes to encourage peaceful, student-initiated conversations and ensure there is a safe space for different perspectives and viewpoints, including faith-based ones.

Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family and director of the new Day of Dialogue website, said the name change reflects the key goal of equipping students with an opportunity to articulate a Christian perspective.

“We’re excited about shepherding this student-led event,” she said. “Focus has a long tradition of supporting those who want to express their faith-based viewpoints about homosexuality in a loving and respectful way, and the Day of Dialogue gives students a great way to do just that.”

The event will come on the heels of the Day of Silence, on which gay activists and their allies encourage students to take a vow of silence to bring “attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies.”

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Cushman said: “Our focus for this year’s event is going to be on dialogue and giving students of faith an opportunity to express the model presented by Jesus Christ in the Bible — who didn’t back away from speaking truth, but neither held back in pouring out His compassionate love for hurting and vulnerable people and defending those people from harm.

“The most important way family advocates can help is to make high school and college students aware of the Day of Dialogue. Students can register, and check out activities, conversation cards and posters on the new website.”