When is bullying, bullying?

By: American Decency Staff

Saugatuck, Michigan is a small West Michigan community nestled just to the east of beautiful Lake Michigan.  It is a tourist town in the summer months but has also been known for many years as a community that is a magnet for homosexuals. The Saugatuck-Douglas area is known for its alternative lifestyles. Douglas hosts the Rainbow Family Great Lakes Family Week each summer, drawing hundreds of people to the lakeshore. So perhaps it isn’t surprising that the Saugatuck Public Schools is considering a video in their curriculum for eighth graders in their sex education curriculum on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) issues. The Saugatuck Middle School sexual advisory committee is proposing that students watch the video “Coming Out: What Every Teen (Gay or Straight) Needs to Know,â€ÂÂ  The video purportedly discusses tolerance, bullying and identity issues. According to Rolfe Timmerman, Saugatuck Public School Superintendent, "The video really focuses on issues of sexual harassment.â€ÂÂ  (Referencing WZZM, TV13, Grand Rapids, MI) http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/168012/14/Sex-ed-video-considered-to-combat-gay-bullying (The 23-minute video is available for parent viewing at the central office, 201 Randolph St., Saugatuck, MI) The video features lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students from across the country talking about their experiences, according to the Human Relations Media website. “Coming Out : What Every Teen (Gay and Straight) Needs to Know" profiles LGBT students, their straight allies and their teachers. "I am against the video even though I've never seen it," Reverend Ralph Houston told the school board. Rev. Houston and others against or unsure about adding the video to the 8th grade curriculum say it is more focused on bringing students "out of the closet" than educating against bullying. "I would say it leads young people who are at a very susceptible age to think 'Well, maybe I am gay'," says Rev. Houston. "The part on anti-bullying is a sliver of the video," adds opponent Brian Sova. "It's more about coming out." The Saugatuck School Board will vote on adding the video to the  8th grade curriculum at their meeting June 20. Here is a short commentary that expresses well the Christian perspective on homosexuality to those who would be careless in regard to the manner in which they address the matter of acquainting our youth to aberrant life styles. Quoting: 1.  We believe that heterosexuality is God’s revealed will for humankind, and that, since God is loving, a chaste and faithful expression of this orientation (whether in singleness or in marriage) is the ideal to which God calls all people. 2. We believe that a homosexual orientation is a result of the fall of humanity into a sinful condition that pervades every person.  Whatever biological or familial roots of homosexuality may be discovered, we do not believe that these would sanction or excuse homosexual behavior, though they deepen our compassion and patience for those who are struggling to be free from sexual temptations. 3. We believe there is hope for the person with a homosexual orientation and that Jesus Christ offers a healing alternative in which the power of sin is broken and the person is freed to know and experience his or her true identity in Christ and in the fellowship of his Church. 4. We believe that this freedom is attained through a process which includes recognizing homosexual behavior as sin, renouncing the practice of homosexual behavior, rediscovering healthy, nonerotic friendships with people of the same sex, embracing a moral sexual lifestyle, and in the age to come, rising from the dead with a new body free from every sinful impulse. This process parallels the similar process of sanctification needed in dealing with heterosexual temptations as well. We believe that this freedom comes through faith in Jesus Christ, by the power of his Spirit. 5. We believe that all persons have been created in the image of God and should be accorded human dignity. We believe therefore that hateful, fearful, unconcerned harassment of persons with a homosexual orientation should be repudiated. We believe that respect for persons with a homosexual orientation involves honest, reasoned, nonviolent sharing of facts concerning the immorality and liability of homosexual behavior. On the other hand, endorsing behavior which the Bible disapproves endangers persons and dishonors God. 6. We believe that Christian churches should reach out in love and truth to minister to people touched by homosexuality, and that those who contend Biblically against their own sexual temptation should be patiently assisted in their battle, not ostracized or disdained. However, the more prominent a leadership role or modeling role a person holds in a church or institution of the Conference, the higher will be the expectations for God's ideal of sexual obedience and wholeness. We affirm that both heterosexual and homosexual persons should find help in the church to engage in the Biblical battle against all improper sexual thoughts and behaviors. [Taken from a resolution passed by the Baptist General Conference in Annual Meeting, June 27, 1992] Take action by clicking on the action button below or write more personally your thoughts below: Action link: Contact information: Saugatuck Public Schools 201 Randolph Street,  PO BOX 818 Douglas, MI 49406 School: (269) 857-1444 Fax: (269) 857-1448 Board of Education: Mike Van Loon – President Doug Finn – Vice President spsboard@saugatuckps.com Rolfe Timmerman Superintendent of Schools Central Administration Building 201 Randolph Street P.O. Box 818 Douglas, MI 49406 Tele: 269-857-1444 Fax: 269-857-1448 rtimmerman@saugatuckps.com Saugatuck Middle School: Tim Travis – Principal 269-857-2133Ext. 160f 401 Elizabeth Street Saugatuck, MI  49453 ttravis@saugatuckps.com Dan Wilson – Assistant Principal 269-857-2133 Ext. 154 dwilson1@saugatuckps.com ========================================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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