Blog #3

One of the most prevalent issues facing today’s society is that of gay marriage. Every day, the subject seems to infiltrate culture more and more. Specifically, voters in California are considering a measure that would ban homosexuals from having the same marriage rights as heterosexual individuals. In particular, Proposition 8 would define marriage as the union between a man and a woman.

Focus on the Family’s Mike Haley spoke about the issue of homosexuality at the Torrey Bible Conference. An ex-gay himself, Mr. Haley spoke about his life as a gay man and his transition out of the lifestyle. He told students to focus on God’s faithfulness, which can pull someone through any situation – even one as difficult as leaving the homosexual community. At the end of his talk, Mr. Haley hosted a question-and-answer session addressing students’ questions concerning how to deal with their friends and family members who are struggling with the problem of homosexuality. During this question-and-answer session, he discussed the topic of gay marriage, saying that he was against it and by association, against Prop 8.

Proposition 8 was created in response to the overturning of Prop 22 (which formally defined marriage in California as being between a man and a woman) in May 2002 by California’s Supreme Court. According to “California Official Voter Information Guide,” Prop 22 has three simple goals: 1) to restore the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved, 2) to overturn the outrageous decision of four Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people, and 3) to protect our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage.

Ads against Prop 8 (which began airing this month), featuring Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell, state that public schools are not required to teach about marriage. However, the California Department of Education’s website (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/se/sexeducation.asp and http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/se/faq.asp) verifies that 96% of public school districts teach about marriage. In addition, the U.S. District Court ruled that public school teachers in Massachusetts have the constitutional right, not only to instruct their students regarding the alleged normalcy of homosexuality, but to do so without notifying parents (Parker v. Hurley, 2008).

As it is, we’re already seeing the teaching of gay marriage in public schools. On October 10, eighteen first graders from Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco took a field trip to watch their teacher’s lesbian wedding. The school’s interim director was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, on October 11, as calling it a “teachable moment.” Parents could opt to not send their child on the field trip – and two parents did – but as the press secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign told the newspaper, “This is overt indoctrination of children who are too young to have an understanding of its purpose.” According to WorldNetDaily, some parents in Sacramento claim that they weren’t notified that their kindergarteners were learning to be homosexual allies and that they would participate in “Coming Out Day”. As Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, told WorldNetDaily on October 22, “Do we need any further proof that gay activists will target children as early as possible?” he asked. “Opponents of traditional marriage keep telling us that Prop. 8 has nothing to do with education. In reality, they want to push the gay lifestyle on kindergartners, and we can only imagine how much worse it will be if Prop. 8 is defeated. This is not a scenario most Californians want replayed in their elementary schools.”

Convergent Journalism Blog #1

When I set out to select an article from my copy of the New York Times, I was unsure at first of which one to choose. Considering that our country is in an election year, in the midst of a Presidential Race that’s bound to be remembered for years to come, it seemed only logical to select an article about politics. After some thought, I decided on an article titled, “Wooing Conservatives Pays Off”.

In my initial read-through of the article, one point clearly stood out. Though the article claimed to be about Senator McCain’s courtship of conservative Christians, it ever so subtly skewed words and sentences to make Senator McCain sound like both a flip-flopper and an opportunist. Telling readers that the senator has “abandoned previous calls to moderate the Republican platform’s support for a ban on abortion without exception” in favor of “what many advocates say is the most conservative platform in the party’s history,” as well as continually reminding readers of McCain’s past history of “sparring with leaders of the Christian conservative movement,” the article’s writer, David Kirkpatrick, cleverly inserts several opinionated digs into the piece.

Despite these subtle digs, as well as a few more, the article isn’t completely biased. Mr. Kirkpatrick seems to make an attempt to balance the article towards the end, giving the piece slightly more credibility than it had before. He brings the article to a close saying that, in spite of Senator McCain’s past disagreements with conservative Christians, Evangelicals are now “embracing him”, as well as his choice of a running mate: Sarah Palin. Most notably, Mr. Kirkpatrick says that Senator McCain recently got an endorsement from the founder of Focus on the Family, James Dobson, who said that Mr. McCain’s choice of a running mate is what solidified his endorsement.

Despite David Kirkpatrick’s overall suggestion that Senator McCain is a flip-flopper on conservative issues like abortion, McCain has actually been consistent on many of the issues that are important to the Christian community – including abortion. For example, according to ontheissues.org, in 2003 McCain was given a rating of 0% by NARAL, a pro-choice advocacy group (www.naral.org). This rating indicates a pro-life voting record. Additionally, according to NARAL’s website, Senator McCain has voted pro-life 125 out of 130 times during his congressional career. In addition to his record on abortion, McCain has also been consistent in his votes regarding taxes. In 2006, the National Taxpayers Union gave Senator McCain a grade of 88%, an A, making him “a taxpayer’s friend.” (http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=S0061103) Finally, the National Federation of Independent Businesses gave Senator McCain a grade of 100% for his votes on issues like tax write-offs for small businesses and “giving the president line item veto power over minimum wage increases.” (see VoteSmart link)

In contrast to the author’s premise that McCain has changed his opinions on issues like the right to life, lowering taxes, and supporting small businesses, simply to woo Christian conservatives, McCain has actually often been on the side of the conservative Christian movement.