-The California Supreme Court holds hearings on the validity of Proposition 8.
-Andrew Sullivan questions the wisdom of advancing gay rights through the courts. One of his readers offers a rebuttal.
-The Vermont Legislature fast tracks gay marriage legislation.
-A coalition of religious right groups instructs evangelical parents to keep their kids home from school on April 17 (the Day of Silence).
-A civil unions bill advances to the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Guys there is a great LGBT civil rights organization called the Empowering Spirits Foundation. They are very creative in how they approach this hot topic issue of gay marriage, in that they engage in service oriented activities in communities typically opposed to equal rights to foster thought and change for LGBT equality.
A friend of mine told me about it and I thought it was a great, positive approach to the issue. We had so much fun at the last event and it was great to give back to the community. Plus it was great to converse with others on the other side of the table in a way that wasn’t confrontational.
Anyway, this can be such a heated issue and I thought this was a unique approach.
Let the IFI members and supporters keep their kids out of school that day and any other day something they find offensive is being taught (there seems to be an awful lot of things they find offensive). Sooner or later (probably sooner) DCFS will investigate why the child is chronically truant. Schools are required by law to report this.
When, not if, that happens, their only other option is to enroll the child/children in a licensed parochial school, which still must meet state standards, at their own expense. I don’t believe most, if any, parochial schools will give those same parents a break on the tuition. They are, afterall, in it for the money.
Their only other option is to home-school these children, but they must still meet state standardized testing standards annually.
Frankly, I doubt many of these parents are capable of providing an education to their kids that measures up to state standards. I watched my uncle attempt to home-school his two sons, with disastrous results – one is incarcerated and the other has never held a job at age 20. Their older sister, who was not home-schooled, is a productive member of society. I should point out that these childrens’ father is barely literate himself, except of course in matters related to quoting and interpreting scripture.
Yet again, IFI shoots itself and its members in the foot.