Speaking of bullying, a program Thursday, April 28, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls will bring two speakers to discuss how to stop bullying. And, unlike some confused Christians, the speakers probably won't be promoting violence as an answer.
Dr. Carl Pickhardt and Shane Windmeyer will lead a conversation on, as Windmeyer puts it, "what it means to be a person with integrity and to be inclusive of all people." Windmeyer knows something about the challenges of integrity and inclusivity in a small rural community: he "came out" as a gay man while at college in the small prairie college town of Emporia, Kansas. He and Pickhardt will talk about recognizing and preventing social cruelty, the kind of physical and psychological violence that happens as kids struggle to cope with "developmental insecurity, social instability, emotional vulnerability, and frail self-esteem." (I hate to say it, but that sounds like a diagnosis of the Tea Party.)
This program starts at 7 p.m. Thursday. Dr. Pickhardt and Mr. Windmeyer come to us thanks to the Center for Equality and Volunteers of America&ndashDakotas.
No, they certainly won't be advocating standing up to evil, that's for sure. They'll advocate embracing evil and calling it good (Isaiah 5:20). They'll be advocating the acceptance of a practice that ever major religion recognizes as a sinful violation of God's design for human sexuality. They'll be advocating that we all pretend that an aberrant sexual practice that has been associated with increased risk of AIDS (the CDC reports 72% of male AIDS cases are associated with homosexual behavior), other STDs, anal cancer, hepatitis, depression, substance abuse, suicide and domestic violence...that we pretend this behavior is natural and healthy.
They'll be advocating the full-on appeasement of evil rather than opposing it by insisting that adults protect children from bullying for any reason, and insisting that the truth be told about a dangerous and immoral sexual behavior.
But when your goal really isn't "anti-bullying" but promoting the acceptance of homosexual behavior in the first place, what can you expect?
May God have mercy on their souls, especially those who call themselves by the name of Christ while promoting what he has said is wrong.
Lover's remorse, eh, Bob?