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‘Tolerance’ equals censorship in public school district
Citizen Link ^ | 7-20-2007 | Candi Cushman

Posted on 07/20/2007 6:32:52 PM PDT by Sopater

Official tells group to ‘stay out of our schools.'

A group that supports people trying to leave homosexuality is “like the KKK but only in the form of religion,” according to a teacher at Montgomery County, Md.’s Thomas S. Wootton High School.

“STAY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS AND LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” wrote the teacher, who happens to be the co-sponsor of the high school’s Gay Straight Alliance club.

Using a school-issued e-mail account, the teacher sent those messages to PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays), after the organization distributed fliers to students in compliance with school policy.

So much for “tolerance.”

Which is what the Montgomery County public school district claims it’s promoting by introducing a pro-gay curriculum in all of its middle and high schools this fall.

The new curriculum describes homosexuality as “innate” and exposes kids to propaganda like this statement: “It took a while for me to figure out that I am bisexual. I’ve had great relationships with men and with women,” according to copies of the curriculum posted at www.mcpscurriculum.com.

“They are essentially telling the kids that unless they accept homosexuality, there is something wrong with them,” said Michelle Turner, a mother of six with two in the school district. “These kids have no ability to voice their objection,” she said. “These lessons are so tightly scripted, there is really no discussion that is permitted to take place in the classroom.”

Turner is the spokeswoman for a local parents’ coalition called Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC). The parents received bad news in June when the Maryland State Board of Education denied their appeal, ruling that the district’s controversial lesson plans do not violate the law because “teaching tolerance of diversity is a civic value” with a secular purpose.

The message was clear: Anything taught in the name of “tolerance” trumps parental rights — as well as free speech and religious freedom rights. Other parents need to wake up to this trend, warned Turner. “This ‘tolerance’ is a guise for an agenda that’s being pushed on the school system.

“People need to start asking questions and realize their child is sitting in a classroom for six hours a day,” she added. “And what they are being exposed to in that classroom is impacting their thinking and their beliefs.”

Meanwhile, in Montgomery County, intolerance seems to be the rule: School personnel recently set up trash cans with PFOX’s name on them in the main lobby of one school, apparently attempting to incite students to throw out the group's fliers, which encourage those struggling with same-sex attractions that change is possible.

“The school is not only engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, but clearly it has also displayed an obvious desire to indoctrinate students with a radical, pro-homosexual agenda,” said Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco.

ADF sent a letter this week to the president of Montgomery County’s education board, citing federal court rulings that clearly forbid schools from singling out one group for censorship, while allowing the viewpoints of others.

(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: abomination; education; gayagenda; governmentschools; homeschool; homosexualagenda; homosexuality; indoctrination; perversion
For those of you with your children still in the government school systems, what are you waiting for?
1 posted on 07/20/2007 6:32:55 PM PDT by Sopater
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To: metmom

Here’s yet another one. Another reason to homeschool, that is.

They never seem to end.


2 posted on 07/20/2007 6:45:55 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Open borders and outsourcing are opposite sides of the same coin)
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To: Sopater

Tolerance is demanded of conservatives, reviled by liberals.


3 posted on 07/20/2007 6:47:02 PM PDT by Bulldawg Fan (Rest of the Story, My bad that this didnt print with the first part.)
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To: Bulldawg Fan

Liberals don’t know how to be “tolerant” of anybody else.

Tolerance is a word that has had its meaning obliterated. It is really censorship and should be called such by the right. Don’t let the left win the definition war.


4 posted on 07/20/2007 6:53:27 PM PDT by TruthConquers (Delendae sunt publici scholae)
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To: Sopater

Gee, I have the same message for the teacher promoting her / his gay agenda.

Get out of our schools, and leave our children alone!


5 posted on 07/20/2007 6:54:05 PM PDT by Shadowstrike (Be polite, Be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: Sopater
Their actions do follow a certain misguided logic. They pride themselves on teaching "tolerance," which includes tolerance of homosexuals. Since PFOX is trying to persuade homosexuals and those that feel gay tendencies that they can steer themselves away from homosexuality, the school therefore regards PFOX as being intolerant of homosexuals. Just as the KKK is intolerant of blacks. So, working on the premise that intolerance has no place at their school, they seek to silence PFOX -- not realizing that by doing so, they are displaying intolerance of differing ideas.
6 posted on 07/20/2007 6:58:12 PM PDT by RepublitarianRoger
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To: Sopater
"LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” wrote the teacher

There you have the problem, folks, in a nutshell.

7 posted on 07/20/2007 7:09:54 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: DaveLoneRanger; 2Jedismom; Aggie Mama; agrace; Antoninus; arbooz; bboop; BlackElk; blu; Capagrl; ...

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. If you want on/off this list, please freepmail me. The main Homeschool Ping List by DaveLoneRanger handles the homeschool-specific articles.

Yup, another reason, and they seem to be getting worse by the day.

8 posted on 07/20/2007 7:30:31 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; KlueLass; ...
...after the organization distributed fliers to students in compliance with school policy.

9 posted on 07/20/2007 8:46:06 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Wednesday, July 18, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Izzy Dunne; metmom
Thanks for the ping metmom... My husband was just talking to a friend about this very thing today. According to these people tolerance really is about censoring ideas that they don't agree with.

Izzy said;
""LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” wrote the teacher

There you have the problem, folks, in a nutshell."


Yep, I agree. Despite all the rhetoric we hear about teachers wanting parents involved it really seems that some (if not most) teachers would prefer it if parents had nothing to do or say about their children's education. It seems that they believe a teacher's certificate qualifies them to parent and decide which moral values one should hold -- and they certainly aren't imparting great wisdom with actions such as this either...

I'm so glad to have the ability to home-school my children, and I wish more had the opportunity to do so.

10 posted on 07/21/2007 1:55:23 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (Liberty Rocks Blog: http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com)
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