It's holiday time and as usual I am surly, bristly and fighting the urge to shout "Bah Humbug!" Following the sage advice, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all," I have held my tongue. Finally though, I was asked one too many times what I thought of the whole Kevin Jennings appointment and the 2001 distribution of "fisting" kits. Well, here it is:
From my Facebook post:
Quite clearly the advocacy of "fisting" among youth is inappropriate and objectionable. Clearly these folks do not hold a Judeo-Christian worldview or ethic. It makes sense then that they wouldn't feel the same way that we do about homosexuality or sex education in general. That being said here are some things to remember:
1. This happened in 2000 and 2001. If there was evidence that this practice continued beyond 2001, you can bet that the source would have found out about it - which tells me that it was widely regarded as inappropriate and was discontinued (albeit, probably still persists, but not in as broad a forum).
2. An article today mentions that 53 members of congress are actively attempting to get Kevin Jennings removed from his post.
3. Kevin Jennings is the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, essentially an undersecretary of nothing and nobody. He is one of thousands of appointees without direct power over curriculum or the direction of public education in the U.S.
4. Community Standards prevail. States, then in turn school districts, and finally individual schools and teachers determine curriculum and policies related to health education. It would be a mistake to draw the conclusion that Alabama schools are going to begin disseminating "fisting kits" to our children, but this is clearly the conclusion that these fear-mongerers intended people to draw.
5. The president makes thousands of political appointments when he comes into office. This is a task that is usually not handled directly by the president, beyond selecting his own staff and major appointed positions like the presidential cabinet. Ultimately the purpose of these groups is to somehow tie the actions of Jennings back to Obama and make the case that he was fully aware of Jennings' activities and that he somehow approved and supported the practices of GLSEN - even that Obama is a card-carrying member of said group. This is absurd. More likely is that Obama has never even heard of Jennings and had no idea anything like this had happened. See #1
6. I begin to wonder about the activities of all governmental appointees. If we begin pointing the finger at homosexual advocates, why stop there? Shouldn't we want to know who cheated on their taxes, who cheated on their spouses, who dropped LSD in college, who's hit their kid, who's divorced, who's on the Playboy subscriber list?
Anyway, I say all that to say this:
I know that this particular issue feeds home-school advocacy and becomes confirming evidence for all the fear of public school teaching aberrant beliefs. I am really surprised to see Obama supporters promoting this witch-hunt. It is obviously yet another attempt by the NeoCons to discredit him. As Christians we need to get back to promoting the cause of Christ, not demonizing the lost.
