School Superintendent Jim Stanton thought he had a great idea for a school assembly in Dunkerton, IA. He thought by inviting the band Junkyard Prophet from You Can Run But You Can't Hide International, which describes itself as a Christian Youth Ministry, that he could get a dialog started about harmful lyrics in modern music, drug use, and bullying. Or so he now claims.
After a brief introduction including music and a message about how some music can be a bad influence on some kids,
the discussion switched to gays and abortion.
Everyone anticipated the message from Junkyard Prophet, a traveling band based in Minnesota, to be about bullying and making good choices. Instead, junior and senior high students at Dunkerton High School and faculty members said they were assaulted by the group's extreme opinions on homosexuality and images of aborted fetuses.
A visit to
the group's website makes it immediately and painfully obvious where they are coming from from the article on the right that spins hate crimes laws as reverse bigotry while condemning us "homosexual radicals".
They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren't virgins.
They told these kids that anyone who was gay was going to die at the age of 42. It just blows me away that no one stopped this.
--Jennifer Littlefield, parent
They started talking about homosexuality, and that’s when I really got offended. I got a little emotional. I wanted to walk out. But I’m like, 'Keep your calm, listen to what they have to say.'
--Adam Manahl, seventh grader
Stanton noted that the band had performed at the school years ago and staff members at the time had given them positive reviews.
Times change, Jim.
Group founder Bradlee Dean has claimed of "homosexuals":
On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?
Andy Kopsa has
more on Bradlee Dean.
After performing, the audience was separated into boys, girls, and teachers. That should have been a clue that mischief was afoot.
The boys got a lesson on the constitution and Christianity. And probably the freedom to be bigots.
The girls, meanwhile, were told to save themselves for their husbands and assume a submissive role in the household. According to witnesses, the leader in that effort also forced the young ladies to chant a manta of sorts about remaining pure.
A band representative claims they just brought up the issues and let the audiences discuss them.
They called me out because I wasn't participating because I didn't believe what they wanted me to believe in, and they forced me to participate.
----Kenzley Ricklefs
--
Stanton said some of the messages ran counter to the district's mission of acceptance and tolerance. He acknowledged he’d made “a poor decision” and said he would work to reverse the effects of what was said.
Another assembly was called before the end of the day so that Stanton could try to promote the districts tolerance policy. He told the student body that the group shared "an opinion about intolerance that is not in line with the beliefs of the Dunkerton Community Schools."
We promote tolerance for one another. We will continue to celebrate diversity in our student body.
--Jim Stanton
What will be done to repair the mental health of any GLBT students subjected to this madness has not been reported.