Monday, April 30, 2012

D. Savage To High School Convention: "Ignore Bull Sh_ _ In The Bible"

Print Friendly Version of this pagePrint Get a PDF version of this webpagePDF
Two weeks ago, Dan Savage, a columnist for Seattle's "The Stranger" newspaper, was the keynote speaker for the National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle. Several thousand high school students and their teachers and advisers from around the country were in attendance.

Savage's first comment was, "I hope you're all using birth control." It went downhill from there.

Following his opening comments, he began an attack on the Bible and those kids who believe in biblical values in ways you have likely never heard. All under the umbrella of public education.

He said, "There are people using the Bible as an excuse for gay bullying, because it says in Leviticus and Romans that being gay is wrong."

He told the kids the Bible is wrong.

He continued, "We can learn to ignore the bull sh_ _ in the Bible about gay people."

He continued to blaspheme the Bible and Scripture in ways that will shock the most nominal Christian and grieve the heart and spirit of any biblical believer in Jesus Christ.

He mocked the Christian kids who began to walk out of the convention and called them "panty-assed."

Some educators were questioning why this man would have been invited as the keynote speaker.

One of our regular readers, a former journalist, contacted the leadership directly. He has been keeping me informed of their responses.

I also have a video copy of Savage's attack on the Bible, Christianity and the Christian kids in attendance. Notice how the Christian kids are mocked and jeered as they walk out of the convention. The only thing missing is the lions.

I want every Christian, every parent and every grandparent to read the response from those who chose Savage to speak. And to see the video of him attacking our kids and our Christian beliefs.

We have been following this for the past two weeks. We are looking at what options we may have in any substantive response.

Our reader, I'll refer to him as "Faith and Freedom Reader" first contacted the Journalism Education Association and began to ask questions.

First this:

Dear JEA Administration,


I would like to know if Dan Savage was vetted prior to being chosen as a keynote speaker for the Seattle conference. If so, by whom?


Thank you,
XXXXX

A Kelly Furnas responded with this:

Hi, XXXX, Thanks for reaching out. Our keynotes are selected by a committee, but I'd be happy to be your point of contact to answer any specific questions you might have.


/ krf

Faith and Freedom Reader responded with this:

Thank you Kelly,


Can you please describe the vetting process used to decide who would be an appropriate candidate as a keynote speaker and if their dialog is reviewed prior to engaging groups of adolescents?


Thank you,
XXXX


Kelly Furnas responded with this:

The committee looks for a local individual involved in media or a newsmaker our students can report on, preferably with some level of name recognition. When we reach out to them, we explain the audience that the keynote is for and agree on a topic.


/ krf

Clearly it was an intentional choice. The several thousand attendees and their teachers and advisors had been told the subject would be on "Bullying."


Please take 3 minutes to watch the video.


Rick Tuttle, the journalism adviser for Sutter Union High School in California, was among the several thousand people in the audience. He said they thought the speech was one thing – but it turned into something else.

“I thought this would be about anti-bullying,” Tuttle told Fox news. “It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs."

Indeed it did.

But it was, in fact, about bullying.

There is not a more clear example of where public education stands in regard to Christians, biblical beliefs and those who hold them than this episode. Dialog in the classroom is generally more restrained, but given the chance, homosexual activists will choose a Dan Savage to tell your kids how they really feel.

The Christian kids were bullied, mocked and scorned because of their beliefs. The next time a teacher stands at a PTSA meeting and explains that public education is morality neutral and they only want to give the kids information on all sides of certain moral issues, replay this video and think about who is educating your child.

May God help us.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Active Be Blessed.