[Christian Post]

As thousands of students across the nation participated in the “The Day of Silence” – a vow among students to remain silent throughout the day in recognition and protest of the perceived “silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies in schools” – Christians found themselves facing a dilemma.

Although many Christians were vocal in their opposition to what they claimed was an annual endorsement of homosexuality – many called for a boycott of the event, and a number of organizations even urged parents to keep their children away from school that day – other Christians looked for ways to reach out to their homosexual peers while emphasizing the loving teachings of Christ.

Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of Psychology at Grove City College, and Michael Frey, Western PA Director for College Ministries with Campus Crusade were both instrumental in organizing what they called the “Golden Rule Initiative,” an alternative non-confrontational approach to The Day of Silence, which took place Friday.

As part of the “Golden Rule Initiative,” students passed out cards throughout the day vowing to live in the manner of Christ’s teaching to “Do to others as you would have them do to you” in reference to the passage from Scripture. The cards also read, “As a follower of Christ, I believe that all people are created in the image of God and therefore deserve love and respect.”

Over a dozen schools and campus ministries across the nation participated in the Golden Rule Imitative, and responses from students were reportedly positive.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Sounds like a great alternative to me.  Next year I will encourage others to use this card. Great way to display the love of Jesus in a practical, loving way.

What do you think?

[Seattle Times]

A Day of Silence inside Mount Si High School meant to show support for gay and lesbian students erupted in noisy protests outside.

More than one-third of students didn’t show up for classes Friday. Principal Randy Taylor said 495 out of 1,410 students weren’t at school, including 85 athletes whose parents had asked that they be excused for their personal beliefs.

About 100 people joined the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, a prominent anti-gay-rights activist, in prayer and song that questioned the dedication of a school day to what they said was a controversial political cause.

Snoqualmie police placed yellow crime-scene tape between Hutcherson’s supporters and about 40 counterdemonstrators, including some former students, who tried to drown out the pastor by beating drums and chanting, “Go home.”

Read about it here.

[From me]

I will remain silent…

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

The young host of a Christian music television show has come out publicly as a gay man, and to his surprise he has received more encouraging support than expected from churchgoers.

“I’ve received literally hundreds of emails from everyone around the world and they’re all encouraging,” said Azariah Southworth, host of “The Remix,” in an interview with After Elton, a publication on gay and bisexual men.

While many of the e-mail were also negative, 21-year-old TV host said the “amazing amount of support and encouragement has astounded me.”

“I’ve never received so much encouragement like this, not from the Church,” he added.

Southworth made his announcement last week in Out and About, a Nashville-based LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) publication. He said it was a long time coming and that he now wants to live his life honestly.

“I believe by me living my life honestly and authentically now, I am able to be a better person and a better Christian,” said Southworth.

Southworth personally believes many misunderstand the Bible on what it says about homosexuality. He was inspired by the controversial 2007 documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So” which argues that the Bible is misused by fundamentalist Christians and that Scripture does not condemn homosexuality.

Another inspiration for his coming out as gay was Ellen DeGeneres, an award-winning and popular talk show host who came out as a lesbian in 1997.

He’s not alone as a gay Christian, Southworth says. There are many gay people in the Christian industry, he adds, but it’s “hush-hush” and they’re scared to come out.

“I know I will be cut off from many within the Christian community, and if so, then they didn’t get the point of the life of Christ,” he commented. But he hopes the faith community will not push him out for being openly gay.

“I hope that they (Christians) don’t do that, because that is not who Jesus was at all,” he told After Elton. “His closest friends were the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the sinners. They were the low-life people of that time. So I hope they don’t do that.”

Raised a Pentecostal, Southworth currently identifies himself as a follower of Jesus and does not affiliate with any denomination. He attends three different churches in Nashville, Tenn., one of which is led by a gay partnered pastor.

Read about it here.

[From the Bible]

Leviticus 18:22

 ’Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

Romans 1:26-27

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

I Corinthians 6:9-10

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

I Timothy 1:9-10 (NASB)

realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.

[From me]

I support Mr. Southworth as a person and a follower of Jesus.  But you can’t be in fellowship with Jesus if you are living in sin.  It doesn’t matter what sin it is.  Sin is wrong and does not please God. Living in sin is not being who we are in Christ.   If I was living contrary to my identity in Christ I would expect it to be pointed out to me.  Yesterday I was corrected and that person was right in doing so.  

Support?  Yes, I will support him and begin to pray that God will point him to the truth.  How can he say homosexual behavior is OK according to the Bible.  Just those few verses make it pretty clear.  And if he is having sex at all gay or straight he is fornicating.  

What do you think?

[World Net Daily]

A coalition of Christian organizations is encouraging students to stay home when their schools recognize the “Day of Silence” homosexual-lifestyle promotion this year – and the reaction has started coming in.

Liberty Counsel reports it has had complaints from parents and students about a wide range of misbehaviors or misrepresentations presented by schools.

For example, in one school district a principal told a father if his son was not at school on the “Day of Silence,” the student would be given a failing grade for the year. In Indiana, parents were told by public school officials it was “against the law” for them to cancel the program or excuse absences that day. And in Iowa, a school board member said a student refusing to speak throughout a school day was no more disruptive than a “Christian wearing a cross.”

“When it comes to the Day of Silence, silence is not an option,” said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University’s School of Law.

“Students have the right not to remain silent. Students can refuse to attend school. They may mount a counter-protest in support of purity and the traditional family. While schools may be required to allow clubs to meet on campus, schools do not have to promote the Day of Silence. Students to not have the right to remain silent when called upon by teachers,” Staver said.

Liberty Counsel has assembled a legal memorandum that explains how to protect schools from being “hijacked” by the agenda of the event, which is promoted by the homosexual advocacy organization Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network.

The memo advises that student conduct causing a substantial disruption or material interference with school activities is not protected under the First Amendment.

Liberty Counsel said that in Oklahoma, a high school graduate was told by her former principal if he did not allow the Day of Silence he could not allow the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In South Dakota, a student was told her absence on that day would impose a requirement that she write a paper explaining why she did not participate.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Look, why can’t parents hold their children out of school that day.  Isn’t that another form of protest?  If one group can protest why can’t the other side counter protest?

What do you think?

[One News Now]

Ken Hutcherson, a pro-family pastor near Seattle, is objecting to the activities of what he calls a “sex club” in his daughter’s public high school — and to the fact that the club is allotted a whole day on the school calendar to promote its agenda. Pastor Ken Hutcherson is developing a “history,” so to speak, with Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, Washington. When his daughter’s senior class invited the pro-family activist to speak on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, two pro-homosexual teachers interrupted the assembly. Hutcherson then had to remove his daughter from one of those teacher’s classrooms because of alleged harassment.

Now Hutcherson is upset because of a poster promoting the Gay Straight Alliance at the school. The poster displays silhouettes of three teenage couples — one male-female, one female-female, and one male-male — all embracing in front of a rainbow, as if they are about to kiss. It announces the weekly meetings of the GSA, a teacher-sponsored student group that promotes homosexuality, bi-sexuality, and gender confusion.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Why does a school need a “SEX CLUB?” Schools should be teaching abstinence not sex. Even if you are not a follower of Christ you would have to realize teenagers are too young to make those kind of decisions. I’ll keep religion out of this. What parent wants their child involved in this mess? Unbelievable!

What do you think?

[HT] My beautiful bride!