A Perfect Example of Focus on the Family's Evil
There are small evils and big ones. Focus on the Family is, in my view, a big one. Besides promoting child-beating as a method of keeping your little darlings in line, they are the most homophobic people on the planet. Dobson (even though he is no longer affiliated with them in an official capacity) made a point out of doing everything he could possibly do to make gays and lesbians look like Satan.
The newest FotF "concern" is that gay activist groups are "bullying" schoolchildren:
As kids head back to school, conservative Christian media ministry Focus on the Family perceives a bully on the playground: national gay-advocacy groups.
School officials allow these outside groups to introduce policies, curriculum and library books under the guise of diversity, safety or bullying-prevention initiatives, said Focus on the Family education expert Candi Cushman.
"We feel more and more that activists are being deceptive in using anti-bullying rhetoric to introduce their viewpoints, while the viewpoint of Christian students and parents are increasingly belittled," Cushman said.
Public schools increasingly convey that homosexuality is normal and should be accepted, Cushman said, while opposing viewpoints by conservative Christians are portrayed as bigotry.
In case you haven't seen what happens when children are taught that homosexuality isn't normal and shouldn't be accepted, let me introduce you to the story of Lawrence King.
Lawrence (or Larry, as he was known) was my daughter's age and attended a middle school not far from hers. Larry was struggling with his sexual identity. He knew he was different, thought he was gay, and was experimenting with different looks that meshed with where he was internally. By all accounts, he was a friendly sort, didn't pick fights with people and had some family problems that had landed him a placement with Casa Pacifica.
Brandon McInerney attended the same school as Larry King. They were in the same grade, had the same homeroom classes. Brandon McInerney had no struggles with his sexuality. He was straight, macho, and came from a family of gun owners and "real men."
On February 13, 2008, Brandon McInerney put a gun in his backpack. He walked to school the way he always did, arrived at his first period class and told a classmate it would be the last day Larry King would spend on earth. When the bell rang, Brandon headed to the computer lab, where the following took place:
Brandon picked up his backpack, headed over to the computer lab, walked into the room, went straight to Larry King, where he placed the muzzle of his gun to Larry’s head and pulled the trigger, execution-style. Then he pulled back the gun and fired into Larry’s back one more time just for good measure before he took off running as fast as he could. Brandon is tall and fast, so he was able to get out of the room and off campus before anyone really realized what had just happened.
Now, this happened at the time that: a) the petition was being circulated in churches to put proposition 8 on the November ballot; and b) an organization called "SaveOurKids.net" was circulating a petition against SB 877, which broadened the protected class definition in California for non-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.
SaveOurKids.net was a joint effort by Focus on the Family and the LaHaye bullies to get enough signatures on a petition to "protect the children" by allowing discrimination against gays and lesbians on California school campuses. Or at least, that's what they said. It was really just a "right wing freakout".
This is what happens when the fires of homophobia are stirred. Children are assassinated in cold blood by classmates, threatened by the sexuality and the messages they get from organizations like Focus on the Family. When those fires are stoked up too high, 14-year old boys take guns to school, walk up to classmates, and put two bullets in the back of their heads.
Tell me again. Who is the bully here?
Postscript: Brandon McInerney is now finally on trial, after delaying as much as possible for the past two years. When the District Attorney announced the intention to try Brandon as an adult, there was a huge outcry from the community. Yep, that's right. A cold-blooded murdering kid got more sympathy than the victim. This is also what homophobia brings. Sympathy for murder, in cold blood.
I used to work there when they were in California.
We designed and installed an ECD6000 automated call distributor in their facility in Pomona, California, and it was horrible. It was so bad that some of the software engineers could no longer do site installation and testing inside their facility and other engineers had to be located who could.
You can google "ecd6000" and find a review of how bad I believe it was.
My opinions only and only my opinions, as always.
These are "Second Amendment actions." Why would you want to put this kid away? He was just exercizing his Constitutional rights to free speech and gun rights at the same time. Don't Tread on Me!
Well the Christians kids are exorcising theirs...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
and the Dr. Tiller case - someone's going to have to be responsible here.
These sort of things make my stomach turn.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
coincides with my earliest inkling that I was bisexual, so I was ten and eleven years old at the time, and just different all around.
I could have benefited from one of these dreaded gay-advocacy groups at my school. *can picture Bill O'Reilly and James Dobson having ginormous mimiskis over the thought of advocacy groups helping GLBT children or the existence of GLBT children at all*
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
Jesus really fucked up when he said through me you can have ever lasting life. He should have said, if you aren't moral you are gonna roast.
I think a religious person should be moral then faithful.
So much religion is based on hate.
It' s just so fu*king sad and maybe evil that a kid has to grow up thinking he might be gay and fearing the world if he is. Heterosexuals are no better or worse than homosexuals and as I understand it all men (and women) are created equal. Is there a disclaimer somewhere that says that's not true if you are created a homosexual? Hell no!
I just can't imagine growing up gay in a community that thinks being gay is some kind of anomaly. The teen years can be bad enough for so many reasons but to have to deal with kids and adults who think you are some sort of sinner has to be hell.
The kid that did the shooting also has some issues he needs to deal with. His family might just be one of those main issues.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Homosexuality is, strictly speaking, an anomaly. It is a deviation from the norm (I believe estimates are somewhere around 10% of the population), which pretty much defines what an anomaly is. From a reproductive (and thus evolutionary) perspective, an end to the genetic line is an aberration from the norm that by definition is a selective disadvantage.
However, it is not a character flaw. Whatever the cause of homosexuality biologically, a person who is gay is no more fundementally evil than a person born with a genetic or other defect that makes them sterile though still attracted to the opposite sex. Recognizing that homosexuality is no different to a person's ability to be good (or bad) in society than the speed at which their fingernails grow is the key.
I don't think there's any "maybe" about his family being one of the murderer's issues. I can only imagine the goading it took to do something like this - and needless to say, I suspect one of his other issues were questions about his own sexuality that had to be covered up so Daddy wouldn't make fun of him any more. No doubt, shooting the resident "f*g" would put those fears to rest.
Just wait 'til he's in prison (ass-u-ming he does get sentenced as an adult), that should clear up any sexuality issues. Or not.
When I used "might" is was with sarcasm. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
This is about as loathsome as it gets. This young adult as well as his parents ought to be tried for every crime against humanity as the prosecution is able to muster. Murder one, hate, what ever. The parents and the community that supports this behavior has already ascribed themselves to being terrorists.
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master." - Hunter S. Thompson
surely the Commander in Chief would have stopped kicking them out of the armed forces.
How can he do this?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Pretty words.
Thanks karoli - this is an excellent post that brings an important topic to light - something that I think needs to be discussed more. Thanks for working on this!
Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.
This misinformation has to be stopped before these bullies end programs training teachers to deal with bullies in schools. Anyone who thinks children should feel threatened at school for any reason is simply evil.
Look at the stats for kids who are bullied- they are staggering.
Southern Poverty Law Center has a Bullying Curriculum free to educators. One component of the lessons deals with the high percentages of school age gay,lesbian,transgendered,and questioning youth who are bullied (86%), who fee unsafe in school (60.8%), who miss school due to bullying and safety fears (32.7%), or who commit suicide (top 3 causes of death in children ages 15 - 24).
For more info go to: Teaching Tolerance (http://www.tolerance.org)
about ever treating someone who is not an adult as an adult. That is not to say he should be treated as a child either. Overlay the hormones of puberty with emotional and intellectual immaturity, a potentially toxic home indoctrination, throw in access to guns and occasionally shit will happen. Very bad shit to be sure but I'm not sure I'd want to lock this kid up and throw away the key.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
That kid needs to be locked up for life. No getting out early because of his age. He knew exactly what he was doing. He planned it. He executed someone. Fuck him. And his parents need to severely scrutinized too. No, that little psychopath needs to be removed from society permanently.
No sympathy for that little fuck.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
..with the initials "JT" offered "a free surfboard for every dead hipster at Malibu!!!!!!" on his facebook page?
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
No. I'm not aware of who you're referring too.
I'd like to know who. So I can run him over when I see him down on the east cape. Or here in Monterey. That and so I can spread the word about him. I'm sure his sponsors will love this info.
How current is this info? It can't be Joey Thomas. He lives in Santa Cruz. Not to mention he's not like that.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
It's him isn't it?
I met him in Mex with his older brother( he was nice) and his dad.
JT and his dad were little assholes. This was way back when he was a kid. He was an asshole back then.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
What is the official progressive position on Omar Khadr. Or I could cite the children of war in any conflict. If you want to raise an implacable army of killers its best to start young. Even the marines will take them quite young, 17 I believe, with their parents permission of course. We don't generally lock up such children for life. If possible we help to deprogram them. I did not advocate any slap on the wrist for the young man in question. He may well be a recruit in the hate war against gays or he might just be a complete sociopath. Either way it will be years before he is fit to be free again. If ever. I hope he gets a wise jury. Believe me I understand the visceral response. I feel it too. The story made me sick and it is just consistent with the way my day started. My morning paper featured a front page story about a dead thirteen year old kid. I hate that shit.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
It's another to gun down someone in cold blood.
No sympathy for that little fuck. Lock him up and throw away the key.
He had his chance at society. And he pissed it away. And his parents should pay for his incarceration. Ok, maybe that's a bit too much. But this is so wrong on so many levels.
It truly is sickening.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
If the parents have any other children CPS needs to be called in to evaluate their environment.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
they should have done. That their kid had access to such a weapon argues a level of irresponsibility that is breathtaking.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
McInerney's dad died a while back, guessing from a fall (blunt-force injury to head), when drunk and with some drugs in his system. (http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/may/15/toxico...) Mom had drug problems, not sure what her current status is.
Brandon needs to take some serious responsibility on this one, for sure, but it would have been nice if his parents had had some more help to deal with their own demons as well.
does it?.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Always been a hot bed for "localism". Hollywood By The Sea is bad too. Oxnard in general has a bad rep for trouble. That place has a reputation for being very unfriendly to outsiders who go there to surf. Fights, smashed car windows,flat tires, fights in the water. Sand in your gas tank,sand in your oil. This kid is a product of his environment. Same shit goes on all over the place. Lunada bay in Palos Verdes is bad. Windansea in San Diego is another place that's been know for people ending up dead.
These aren't the only places that kind of shit happens. It's epidemic.
That's why I surf alone. I want nothing to do with those assholes.
After surfing for over 40 years, I've had it with those assholes.
They need to find out who his primary influences were. I guarantee it was down at the beach. I've had people point shotguns at me there. And this was in 71-72. In my friends grandmothers driveway.
Those guys have always been assholes. And the cops ignored this till recently.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
That's bullshit. I live in these communities, and lots of kids grow up here without even one time thinking about pulling their Dad's gun out and putting it to the head of a classmate who actually dared to admit he was gay.
Brandon has problems, I'm sure. But at the core of this is a human with hate in his heart.
Ever spend much time down at the beach there? We're talkin Silver Strand here. A known spot for trouble,violence and hate.
If this kid goes down to the beach there, and I assume he does, then he is a product of his environment. Same with Hollywood by the Sea. Same with C street and the Fairgrounds. Same with the west side of Hawaii. Mostly Makaha. Same with Montana De Oro in SLO co. Hell, there are some spots in Big Sur. Same with Windansea. Same with Palos Verdes. Same with Pacific Grove. Same with Moss Landing. Same with Point Arena in Mendocino co. Seaside Oregon. Washington state has some spots too. It's in Mexico. Really bad in Puerto Escondido. It's everywhere.Localism is a phenomena inside of surfing. It pretty much started in the late 60's. Exploded in the 70's. Went out of control in the 80's. And hasn't gotten better yet. And Silver Strand tops the list of the all time worst places to go for localism. This kid coming from Silver Strand, his actions and behavior fit. He was taught this hate in his heart. And I'll bet he was taught this down at the beach. No guidance. Well, the guidance he got was all wrong. He fell in with the wrong bunch of people. They taught him this. They planted the seed. This kid took it to another level. I've seen kids like him most of my life. But this kid is different.
In some surfing communities, it's kinda like being in a gang. Not the whole community, just a certain part of it. The bad part of it.
Like the guy in Windansea who wanted so bad to be a local, he punched out some up and coming pro. He killed him with one punch. He was laughing in court. He though he was going to get off on some bullshit technicality. He wasn't laughing when they took him away. I forget what he got. But it was alot. In Hawaii, they used to punch guys out with cans of dog food in their hands. They used to shoot their surfboards at strangers in the water. Getting hit with a surfboard that's moving over 25mph is a deadly weapon. Especially if it hits someone in the head.
People have this image that surfing is a wholesome clean sport. And for the most part, it is. But there is a dark side to surfing as well.
Ask your kids about Silver Strand and localism.
I'll betcha this kid hung out with the wrong crowd down at the beach.
He is a product of his environment. He chose that environment. He probably was already involved in that environment before he lost his dad. Hell, his dad might have introduced him into it. That part is pure speculation on my part mind you. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Ask your kids about localism down at the beach in Silver Strand.
If you want to find out for yourself. Just wait for the next good west swell.
That area breaks best on west swells. Try looking in Oct/Nov/ Dec. That's when it gets best. That's when the trouble shows up.
You have to be aware of the trouble down on that beach karoli. It is an epidemic. It's one of those things that doesn't happen everyday. But it's there everyday. Surfers wanting to protect/hoard the waves at their beach for themselves. Surely you know about the localism there. And I'll betcha this kid was an up and coming young local. He had to learn this crap somewhere. It was down at the beach. Surfers being a macho crowd and all. Lots of homophobia down at the beach karoli. Lots of it. I won't even get into the drugs down at the beach.Yes, surfers are mostly tolerant. For the most part they are. But, now I have to remind you of the darker side to surfing. And, it only takes one.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
If he's old enough to pull the trigger AND flee the scene of the crime, he's old enough to face the full consequences. I swear, the criminals get more rights than the damn victims.Those parents are fuck-ups that raised a fuck-up.
NOBODY 2012
wrong. He was aware enough to be afraid to be caught.
This is nothing like the horrible case I read about once where a four-year old boy found a gun on a kitchen table and shot and killed his three-year old playmate.
This 14 year old planned this crime and didn't want to be caught.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
But this kid swaggered into a MIDDLE SCHOOL with his Daddy's gun which he packed in his backpack with a black heart full of malice and evil intent, put the gun to the back of Larry King's head and pulled the trigger not once, but twice. Twice.
That is not child's play, nor a tragic accident. It is cold-blooded, heartless evil.
I'm a Canadian pinko who moved to the US, specifically Ventura County CA, in November 2008; just in time to see my co-religionists in the final throes of the Yes to 8 movement, to see Obama win, and to see the flurry of news stories after the King killing.
I was bullied severely in school, especially grades 5-9. I'm straight and never seriously questioned my sexuality, but the number of times I was called "homo" and "******", I occasionally wondered "maybe they're right?" Which is really pernicious.
And of course, kids who really are questioning their sexuality (like Larry King) are even bigger targets, in any school.
Focus on the Family is, IMHO, evil, and I wish they'd find a black hole to crawl into. I think it's quite possible to believe that "maybe God doesn't want us to have sex outside of heterosexual marriage" without being hateful, mean, spiteful, and evil. (I have many gay cousins, one of whom was a prominent spokesperson during the debates on gay marriage in Canada; she's a professor of theology at a Canadian university.)
In Texas, when you wear specs, like to read, and don't particularly care for sports, you're a ******.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Trust me, not just Texas. The Northwest Territories were much the same. I surprised the heck out of a lot of jocks when I made the NWT Arctic Winter Games team; "Hey, Rob, where'd you get that team jacket?" "I'm on the shooting team." [insert evil grin here]
And yes, I was the stereotypical glasses-wearing (complete with hockey tape holding the inevitable break together) book-reading skinny non-jock wimpy nerd. Totally.
just in Southern Ontario is all. My grade school pictures feature a wad of electrical tape holding them together. Alternating corners left or right with the odd picture showing a wad of tape on the bridge. All caused by standing on principle.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Hell, you hear that shit here in California. You hear it everywhere. People think because of L.A. and S.F., CA must be Liberal Loony Land, but that's utter bullshit. Go thirty miles out from either of those cities and you'll find it's as red as a baboon's ass.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Spotted a FOF brochure in my neighbor's mail while they were on vacation...it was about what to do if your child tells you they're gay and how to "intervene". SO wanted to take it and read further, but I govern myself according to the laws of karma.
Does you sobriquet describe your breast size?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpOcO08dHvo
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Will they ever be able to do an action movie trailer that doesn't have a "city ruled by fear".
Hasa Diga Eebowai
"while the viewpoint of Christian students and parents are increasingly belittled," Cushman said."
Waaaaah!
the 78.4% self identifying christians in America are being attacked by the 21.6% non-christians again!
Waaaah!
poor oppressed christians!
Yeah, that's what Bill Maher was saying on his show awhile back when SE Cupp was on talking about her book about how Christians are being oppressed by the librul media. Maher said that if anything Christians have a strong hold on this country. Whether it's politicians using their Christianity to guide legislation, churches getting tax exempt status meanwhile influencing politics, religion taking over the abortion debate, etc. I would say that Christians don't seem to have any trouble getting their view points out.
By "oppressed" they mean "every single little thing in this country is not done the way WE want it to be done". Because if they're not ruling every aspect of everyone's lives, then they're being tortured by the minions of Satan.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
they cannot oppress and hurt people other than themselves.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
the seeds they're sowing only result in death and destruction.
He knew full well what he was doing when he pulled that trigger-
he gave up on his own life, tragically taking another's.
I think Cenk Uygar of The Young Turks puts it best... do Focus on the Family... ever... focus on... families?
does anyone know how to turn off the blinking red comment thingy? It's driving me crazy. Sorry for interrupting but I don't know where else to ask.
These anti-gay zealots use the same tactics our military uses. Take away the humanity in another and it's easier for otherwise stable people to demonize an entire sect of the population. Or in the case of the military, kill another human when the mission calls for it. Referring to the murder of innocent civilians as collateral damage is a perfect example of this.
Go to "My Account" . . "Edit" and "Disable AJAX..", then Save
what happened here was cold blooded murder, no doubt about that, a horrible crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law; but that is not going to bring the murdered child back. this sort of thing must be nipped in the bud, which is why sensitivity education is in the schools in the first place.
dobson is a horrible person, and i have no doubt his efforts, and the mormon church, contributed to a climate of animus against gays in california. there is however no evidence presented that what this kid did was prompted particularly by "the messages they get from organizations like Focus on the Family.", do we even know if he was a christian? this kind of hate can come from anywhere, the family, rap music, the church, anywhere, this is my only quibble with karolis post.
that being said, you know what? there is no law in the usa saying you have to like gays, lesbians, or focus on the family; but there are laws against murder, and there should be laws aginst harassing or harming any body for whatever reason. you don't have to like gay people, but you can damn well leave them alone. just because a person disagrees with someone elses' lifestyle, looks, whatever, does not make it OK to run them down, or kill them. how many different ways can this be said?
this is the danger of religion, any religion, it sets up some sort of cosmic truth, religion turns everything into some sort of apocalyptical battle, with the highest stakes imaginable, peoples lives.
before he took off running as fast as he could. Brandon is tall and fast, so he was able to get out of the room and off campus before anyone really realized what had just happened.
Why is it every single one of these bigoted, homophobic, right-wing shitbags are such utter fucking COWARDS?
If they were really so righteous, if their god was really on their side, wouldn't you expect that at least ONE of them would stand up after committing their ugly crimes and NOT run? Just stand there and yell, "That's right, I DID IT. Here, take me to jail! I will gladly give up my life to defend my principles!"
But no, they always run, they always hide, they always lawyer up and whine and cry about being "victimized". They're abject little pussies, every one of them. What would Jesus say to such spinelessness, I wonder?
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
What a sad, sad story.
What strikes me about Focus on the Family's "argument" is that they equate anti-bullying efforts with homosexuality. As if only gay people get bullied.
To them, they hear bullying and think "deserving punishment for being gay."
One can only get to the idea that stopping bullies is the same thing as promoting homosexuality if you believe that:
1) Only gay people get bullied.
2) Gay people should be bullied
3) Homosexuality really isn't a choice and it must be suppressed with violence and the threat of execution. Remove the violence and 'teh gay' will be unleashed.
Evil indeed.
This story makes me want to beat the shit out of someone.
It's not all or nothing.
So much for the "It's a choice" theory.
There have been too many of these senseless tragedies over the years. How could even the most ignorant mind continue to believe that sexuality is a choice? Apparently they believe that an individual just wakes up one day and thinks "Hey, I'd really enjoy being chastised, threatened, and told that Satan has possessed my soul so I am damned to spend eternity in hell. Yup, that seems like a peaceful way to spend the remainder of my days here on Earth!"
Of course the next question would be, "How can I accomplish all of these objectives? Oh, I know! I'll just "turn" gay!"
People who judge others cannot, by definition, claim to be Christians. Anyone who DARES to judge another is committing a grave sin. Only God has such authority according to Christian beliefs.
The blind ignorance of such pretend keepers of the faith can backfire. They prohibit sex education in the public schools and often fail to undertake the task of educating their own children on the topic. The consequences of this behavior are manifest when their little puritanical darling reveals her "situation" to mommy and daddy, they're shocked. Once again, the familiar "not my children because we raised them right" belief is disproved. Unfortunately the real victims are the children and the perpetrators are the parents.
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