A minister from Spring is one of two people who have co-authored a proposed resolution to be presented to the Southern Baptist Convention in June that would call on churches to investigate whether local public schools in their cities are promoting homosexuality.

Rev. Voddie Baucham, Jr. said if schools are found to be promoting homosexuality through any number of specified means, churches are advised to call on their members to pull their children out of the schools and either home school them or place them in Christian schools.

The means specified in the resolution include “officially sanctioned homosexual clubs” (such as Gay-Straight Alliances), such deceptive labels as safe sex, diversity training, multicultural education, anti-bullying and safe schools.”

Baucham said he and the co-author, Bruce Shortt, have aimed their resolution at churches and not at school districts. It is up to churches to take action. He said the resolution addresses what church members find troubling about public schools.

“The bottom line is, you have people who are aggressively teaching students something that is inappropriate and that undermines what we believe in,” Baucham said.

He said he and Shortt deem anti-bullying and safe schools programs to be merely fronts for teaching acceptance of homosexuality as a valid way of life.

Jim Null, who organizes anti-bullying and safe schools seminars for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in the Houston Independent School District, said the authors may have no cognizance of what some students endure at school.

“The resolution’s authors clearly have no awareness of the equal access law and even less awareness of how common verbal, psychological and even physical harassment of LGBT students is,” Null said.

Tolerance, a form of love
“Tolerance is just a form of love, which the Bible is all about,” Null said. “All of a sudden, tolerance is one of the indicators that gays are in control of the schools or are influencing their children.”

Rev. Walter L. McFadden, pastor of Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church (UCC), said he is disturbed by the document.

“It is appalling that such a document is being proposed in the context of a gathering of persons of faith who profess faith and relationship with Jesus, given that Jesus consistently devoted himself to defending and serving the disenfranchised of his community,” McFadden said.

Baucham said he and Shortt are merely giving Southern Baptist Churches a way around something that they consider to be counter to their faith.

“We recognize that the schools have the right to do that (anti-bullying training, offer GSAs and diversity training),” he said. “The federal government and the courts have already spoken on this issue.”

His resolution characterizes homosexuals as having a reduced life expectancy (even less than that of smokers), an increased risk of self-destructive behaviors such as drug use and domestic violence and a greater risk of developing cancer and other diseases.

McFadden noted, “Not only does it reinforce longstanding erroneous stereotypes of GLBT persons, it seems to invent a few new ones I haven’t heard before.”

Null added, “The real goal of this resolution seems to be the abandonment of public schools in favor of home schooling and private church-based schools where they can control the curriculum, employees, students, policies textbooks, etc.”

Baucham said his resolution does not seek to undermine the public schools but seeks only to encourage churches to be diligent, parents to act when schools are not teaching what is deemed appropriate and all churches to provide support for Christian schools, home schooling and alternative models for providing Christian education.

The resolution will be presented at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 21-22 in Nashville.

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