LGBTQ Rights Versus Religious Rights

LGBT protest against 'Don't Say Gay' bill in Tallahassee (AP)

The culture war goes on. The latest volley is a bill passed by Florida’s state legislature dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by LGBTQ advocates. Governor DeSantis is expected to sign it into law.

Gay advocates are apoplectic over this. Joining in sympathy with them is the mainstream media. They see this as a step backwards for gay rights. Ignored are the parents whose religious rights to educate their children might be denied if schools were instructed to teach LGBTQ values. Which include normalizing a lifestyle conducive to sinful behavior.. And let’s be honest what is really being protested is anything that hinders the complete normalization of a gay lifestyle.

What is this bill actually about? It is about schools not discussing LGBTQ issues with very young children (K through 3^rd grade). It says nothing about children 4^th grade and beyond. Nor does it cast any aspersions on gay people.

But that has not stopped the protests by LGBTQ advocates and college students – all of whom see this as a violation of gay rights. But as noted that is not what really going on. What about the rights of parents to instill biblical values in their children? Values that would surely be contradicted by teachers trying to instill LGBTQ values?  This bill is designed to protect those rights.

LGBTQ advocates don’t care much about the bible. At least not that part of it that teaches us that the sexual act most associated with gay sex is immoral and forbidden. They reject the biblical view as archaic and out of touch with the times. Instead they view with favor the current cultural view that sees all forms of sex as values neutral. It is perfectly fine for 2 human beings to express their love any way they choose in the privacy of their own bedrooms.  

Thing is, this bill does not deny anyone that right. It just wants to protect parents right to teach biblical values before they are old enough to understand what LGBTQ actually means. It prevents indoctrinating very young children into normalizing it before they even understand it. Thereby casting aspersions on the biblical values they are being taught in their homes. Parents should have the right to teach their very young children biblical values and expect teachers not to contradict those values in the school.

To be absolutely clear about this, I do not condone treating gay people  with anything but respect and human dignity. They are who they are and what they do in private  is between them and God. Being gay is not a sin. Only the sexual act most associated with it is. But normalizing a lifestyle conducive to sin is not something that should be supported by religious people and goes well beyond the rights of anyone to live as they choose.

But gay advocates want it all. They want the way they live to be treated as accepted and normal as heterosexual lifestyles. Not that I blame them. Who doesn’t want their lifestyles to be considered normal? But those of us that have religious values cannot consider a lifestyle conducive to sin normal. That LGBTQ says it should be is why there is a cultural war. 

Their opposition to this bill is what this is all about. They want to disabuse society of biblical values and replace them with what they think are the ‘far more moral’ values of our time. And to indoctrinate children before they absorb the biblical values they are taught in the home. 

This is not an anti gay bill. It is a pro parenting bill. It is a bill that promotes the rights of parents to instill their values into their children before are even able to understand LGBTQ values.

This does not mean I oppose teaching children what LGBTQ means at an age appropriate time. I think they should be. They need to know what the world of the 21^st century is like and how to deal with its values in light of the values taught in the home. They need to learn how to interact with people that are  gay or transgender. and they need to be taught to respect them. 

 Public schools need to be values neutral about these issues. They should not be in the business of either condemning it as sinful or normalizing it. How these issues should be viewed is the right of parents to decide – as long as it involves tolerance and love for one’s fellow man regardless of  their sexual nature.

I think this bill will help promote that goal. It’s just too bad the the mainstream media  sees promoting biblical values on this issue as completely negative.