Yesterday the Southern Baptist Convention
approved a resolution that cited concerns about programs that teach tolerance of homosexuals and called for Baptist parents to "investigate diligently the curricula, textbooks and programs in our community schools and to demand discontinuation of offensive material and programs."
Apparently the letter that PFLAG sent SBC President Bobby Welch imploring Baptists to not hinder their efforts to discourage harassment of homosexuals at public schools fell of deaf ears. Here's a quote from the PFLAG letter:
Studies show that 84 percent of gay students are verbally harassed, 39 percent are physically harassed and that this climate of abuse seriously impacts their ability to learn. We earnestly hope that you agree that no child deserves to be harassed or abused at school -- whether or not the attack is motivated by a child's religious beliefs, race or sexual orientation.
In his high school, Brent Wimmer, a student from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, was physically beaten by classmates. They also vandalized his car with large rocks and eggs eight times in the school parking lot. What did Brent, a young man from a fundamentalist Christian family active in his local church and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, do to deserve this cruelty? He wrote an article in his school newspaper about the importance of respecting all people, including gay students, as God's children.
At this point, Southern Baptists have merely endorsed a position that will be perceived as leading to bigotry, prejudice and hate. You don't have to be a prophet to predict that incidents like the one in Sand Springs will soon become more widespread and frequent.
This entry is cross-posted from the Mainstream Baptist blog.