Concerned Women for America’s Chelsen Vicari on Monday hosted a call with Linda Harvey of Mission America and Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute where they discussed their plans for a walkout on the Day of Silence, when students protest anti-LGBT bullying and bias by remaining silent throughout the school day. The walkout endorsers also include the American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Faith 2 Action, Liberty Counsel and Save California, all prominent supporters of the Religious Right’s anti-anti-bullying campaign.
We posted highlights from program where Higgins urged teachers to “plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this” and Harvey warned that the Day of Silence is using children “as a tool” for an “ungodly agenda.” Harvey dubbed the Day of Silence a “God-dishonoring day” that makes children “bow before manipulative, exploitative and deceptive accusations.”
Higgins: What the Day of Silence does is ask kids to refuse to speak during instructional time in class, that they have no legal right to do and no school has to accommodate that, and so that’s what we’re doing is asking parents to call their school, ask if students are allowed to refuse to speak in instructional time, and if they are, to keep their kids home in protest about the disruption of instructional time for a political purpose.
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Harvey: You can keep your kids home that day if you suspect or you find out that teachers are going to accommodate this protest silence in order to honor homosexuality, let’s be clear about what this is, this is a God-dishonoring day that honors sin, sinful, immoral behavior that most parents don’t want their children involved in.
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Higgins: Christian teachers out there and if you’re working in a public school plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this.
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Vicari: So Christian families, it’s imperative really to take a stand against Day of Silence.
Harvey: Yes, because it’s teaching your children to dishonor [sic] what God finds sinful, it’s teaching even conservative parents who maybe are not believers it’s teaching your children to bow before manipulative, exploitative and deceptive accusations. They claim tolerance but they are creating division, hostility and they are undermining high standards for kids.
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Harvey: Your child will remember this, you know the biggest lesson—of course the school is going to learn something as lots of kids are missing that day—but the biggest lesson is your child will learn that you don’t go along with this nonsense, you don’t let people lie to you and use you as a tool for their ungodly agenda.
