Events Future
and Past
Table
of Contents for This Page
Coming Event:
Ignite Our
Culture--2008 Western Conference
Past Events:
The Dr. Chris Kempling Appreciation
Dinner--October 20, 2007
-News Release on this event
International Symposium on Euthanasia and
Assisted Suicide (Toronto; December 1, 2007)
BC
Parents and Teachers for Life Speaks Up for Parents
Regarding the Corren Agreement.
BCPTL Invites Members and
Supporters to Join in Honouring Dr. Chris Kempling on October 20th,
2007
"Going
on the Offensive Against the Offensive" (Chris Kempling
speech given at a BCPTL Conference)
"Working Together to
Spread the Truth" (Speech Given at a BCPTL Conference)
Speech Given at
a CASJAFVA Rally
by the President of British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life
BCPTL
Presentation to the British Columbia Caucus Task Force on Safe
Schools
Special
Events
The
latest news regarding Chris Kempling and other instances of
threatened free speech in Canada makes obvious the relevance
of the topic of this conference. We pass
on, for our readers' information, the following portion of an
advertisement by ECP (the organization which is putting on the
conference).
Ignite
Our Culture - 2008 Western Conference
New
media and a Christian perspective on free speech
March 28 - 29, 2008 |
| INTRODUCTION |
|
Theme: New media and a Christian perspective on
free speech
Free Speech is under attack in Canada as never before.
The Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant prosecutions before various
Human Rights Commissions have brought the issue into sharp
focus. What should the Christian response be in the
midst of all the hype? Are free speech rights
absolute? Does government have a role in regulating
speech? How does the media fit into the picture?
And how does all of this relate to "New Media"
in this Internet age? Join us for an insightful
weekend of discussion, analysis, and perspective on one of
the most important issues facing Christians in our day.
|
LOCATION
Willoughby Christian Reformed Church
20525 – 72nd Ave
Langley, British Columbia, V2Y 1T2
SPEAKERS
| TICKETS
& PRODUCTS |
|
Early Bird Discount Held Over for THREE MORE
WEEKS
Town hall only event - $45.00
Full conference event - $55.00
Discount ticket from February 25 to March 17,
2008
Town hall only event - $45.00
Full conference event - $75.00
Regular conference price after March 17, 2008
Town hall only event - $55.00
Full conference event - $95.00
Note to the
readers of this bulletin:
The ECP Centre has agreed to give BCTPL discounted
display space at the conference depending on how many of
our members attend the event. Please inform us if
you've bought tickets, so that we may count your
registration toward our display space discount.
Also, please inform ECP when registering that you are a
BCPTL member or have heard of the conference through our
bulletin or website.
Go
to the ECP website at http://www.ecpcentre.org/conference.php?id=4
for further details and to purchase tickets on line.
|
The Dr. Chris Kempling Appreciation
Dinner--October 20, 2007
British Columbia Parents and Teachers
for Life News Release
October, 2007
Release: Immediate
Dinner Speakers Praise
a
Teacher Who Spoke Out for Students
A near-overflow crowd at
a dinner held October 20th heard speakers
representing numerous organizations praise a teacher punished by
the BC College of Teachers for speaking out on education.
Dr. Chris Kempling, a public-school teacher and
counsellor, was honoured at the event held in Days Hotel in
Surrey, where British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life
(BCPTL), who sponsored the event, presented him with a plaque
marking the life membership they had conferred on him.
The praise given
contrasted sharply with the treatment the educational
establishment has meted out to the Quesnel teacher and
counsellor.
For speaking out in his own time on educational matters, his
school board in 2005 gave Kempling a three-month unpaid
suspension from his position, and the BC College of Teachers
imposed a one-month suspension which he served in March, 2006.
The threat of additional punishment by the BC College of
Teachers hangs over his head.
Dr. Kempling has been
candid about his disagreement with the methodology and goals of
his union’s program to foster acceptance of homosexuality, and
wrote to his local paper expressing his views.
He was also interviewed by the CBC.
For these activities he has been penalized by the BC
College of Teachers and is still under pressure from that
organization. As
well, his superior in the Quesenel teaching system has attempted
to prevent his speaking out on the issues he has raised.
Dr. Kempling, after
receiving the plaque marking his life membership in BCPTL, gave
a forthright talk entitled “What I Am Not Allowed to Speak On.”
The
organizations whose representatives gave testimonials at the
dinner were: Focus on the Family Canada, the Canadian Alliance
for Social Justice and Family Values Association, ECP (Equipping
Christians for the Public Square), the Catholic Civil Rights
League, the Christian Coalition of Canada, the Christian Social
Concerns Fellowship, REAL Women of Canada, and the Greater
Vancouver Chinese Ministerial Fellowship.
As well, a message of
commendation was read from the Canadian Family Action Coalition.
In presenting the plaque
on behalf of BCPTL, Ted Hewlett said:
“Chris’s ability to draw on the insights of his faith and
the insights of his knowledge as a psychologist, his bold
honesty in sharing those insights, and his compassion for the
students of British Columbia and even his opponents:
These are what led first the executive and then the
membership of British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life to
confer life membership on him.”
The plaque Kempling
received notes his “sacrificial defence of youth” and concludes
with these words:
“You have spoken out
When most were silent.
You have persisted
When most would have
given up.
You have spoken the
truth in love.
For this we honour and
thank you.”
A summary of Chris
Kempling’s story may be read at:
http://www.bcptl.org/rights.htm#summary
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International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide:
Current Issues - Future Directions
Friday, Nov 30th, Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 at the:
Four Points Sheraton - Toronto Airport Hotel.
Organized by: the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - Canada
Co-Sponsored by: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - Canada,
NOT DEAD YET - USA, Compassionate Healthcare Network
- Canada, Physicians for Compassionate Care - USA,
Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare - Vermont, Care
NOT Killing Alliance - UK, No Less Human, UK.
The program begins on Friday November 30th at 9:30
am and ends on Saturday at 5:30 pm. The Friday night dinner
speaker is Professor Margaret Somerville founding director of
the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law.
The list of speakers include:
• Margaret Somerville, the founding director of the
McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law. Somerville is the
author of many internationally recognized books including:
The Ethical Imagination and Death Talk.
• Dr. Peter Saunders is the director of the Care
NOT Killing Alliance in the UK, that co-ordinates
organizations in the UK that oppose euthanasia and assisted
suicide and support palliative care. They were instrumental in
defeating a recent assisted suicide bill in the UK.
• Dr William Toffler is the national director of
Physicians for Compassionate Care in Portland Oregon, a
national organizations of physicians who oppose euthanasia and
assisted suicide in the US.
• Dr. Bob Orr is the director of the Vermont
Alliance for Ethical Health Care opposes assisted suicide
and promotes ethical healthcare practices. They were
instrumental in defeating a recent assisted suicide bill in
Vermont.
• Diane Coleman is the founder of NOT DEAD YET,
a leading disability rights group in the US.
• Stephen Drake is the research director for NOT
DEAD YET.
• Allison Davis is the national co-ordinator of No
Less Human in the UK, a national disability rights organization
.• Hugh Scher is the legal counsel for the Euthanasia
Prevention Coalition and the former chair of the Council of
Canadians with Disabilities Human Rights Committee. Hugh is a
leading lawyer in Canada on Human Rights, Constitutional and
End-of-Life Issues.
• Alex Schadenberg is the Executive Director of the
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition in Canada.
• Rita Marker is the Executive Director of the
International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.
Rita is the leader and the unifying force for groups that oppose
euthanasia and assisted suicide.
• Wesley J. Smith, attorney for the International
Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Smith is the
author of many books including: Forced Exit. Smith is a
powerful speaker.
• Bobby Schindler is the brother of Terri Schiavo and
works for the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation.
• Catherine Frazee is the co-director of Ryerson
University (RBC) Institute for Disability Studies, and the
former chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (1990 - 95).
She is an extraordinarily gifted intellectual leader.
• Bert Dorenbos is the leader of Cry for Life
in the Netherlands.
• Cheryl Eckstein is the founder of the Compassionate
Health Care Network in Canada.
• Dr. Paul Byrne is a Neonatologist from Ohio and a
recognized expert in the area of Brain Death.
• Dr Mark Mostert is an expert on the Nazi T4 -
euthanasia program.
The cost for the Symposium is:
$189 - adult, $100 - students or people with disabilities.
(Includes Friday lunch & dinner and Saturday lunch)
Register by contacting the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
at:
info@epcc.ca
or call toll free: 1-877-439-3348.
Please contact the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition for
special one day rates.
Reserve your room by calling the Four Points
Sheraton - Toronto Airport at: 1-800-368-7764
and indicate that you are reserving for the Euthanasia
Symposium. The room rate is $109.00 per night.
For further registration information contact the Euthanasia
Prevention Coalition at:
info@epcc.ca or call toll free:
1-877-439-3348.
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
www.epcc.ca
BC
Parents and Teachers for Life Speaks Up for Parents
Regarding
the Corren Agreement.
June
5th Abbotsford Forum on the Corren Agreement
On
June 5th, at a forum organized through the work of Len Remple of
the Christian Coalition, held in an auditorium at City
Hall in Abbotsford, British Columbia, we had an
excellent opportunity to help make parents and others aware of the
implications of the Corren Settlement Agreement.
At the forum, besides the BCPTL president, the speakers
were Kevin Boonstra, a lawyer, and MLA and Intergovernmental
Affairs Minister the Hon. John van Dongen.
The
audience by their reactions clearly showed their concern regarding
this agreement, and some valuable contacts were made.
[Click
here to
read a written form of the presentation made on behalf
of British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life.]
BCPTL Invites Members and
Supporters to Join in Honouring Dr. Chris Kempling on October 20th,
2007
At our Annual
General Meeting in April, members of British Columbia Parents and
Teachers for Life voted unanimously to honour Dr. Christopher
Kempling by granting him a life membership in British Columbia
Parents and Teachers for Life.
We have conferred this honour only once before, when it was
given to Lila Stanford, our founder and first president.
Most readers
of this E-Mail Bulletin will be well aware of the
fact that Chris Kempling has made extraordinary sacrifices on
behalf of the children and youth of this province.
Because he has spoken out in his own time against the
pro-homosexuality propaganda being foisted on the students of this
province, Chris has been subjected to unrelenting persecution.
He lost his case in the BC Supreme Court and the BC Appeals
Court, and had his case refused by the Supreme Court of Canada.
He is still under threat of further penalty from the BC
College of Teachers. Those
of us familiar with his case know that it has involved the most
important principles, including
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the
press.
Chris has been a
splendid example of compassion towards those whose life-style he
disagrees with. He
has been careful to distinguish between opposition to the ideas of
others and hostility towards his opponents.
Such hostility has been foreign to Chris’s approach, and
we have admired that.
BC Parents and
Teachers for Life is planning to honour Chris at a testimonial
dinner on October 20th (at a location in Lower Mainland BC to be
decided on). We would like to invite our members, and
members of other pro-family groups to join us at that dinner.
We believe that this should be an event that will be enjoyable for
all who attend, who will have the satisfaction of helping to show
respect for the stand Chris has taken on behalf of the children
and youth of our schools.
BCPTL Invites Members and
Supporters to Join in Honouring Dr. Chris Kempling on October
20th.
At our Annual
General Meeting in April, members of British Columbia Parents and
Teachers for Life voted unanimously to honour Dr. Christopher
Kempling by granting him a life membership in British Columbia
Parents and Teachers for Life.
We have conferred this honour only once before, when it was
given to Lila Stanford, our founder and first president.
Most readers
of this E-Mail Bulletin will be well aware of the
fact that Chris Kempling has made extraordinary sacrifices on
behalf of the children and youth of this province.
Because he has spoken out in his own time against the
pro-homosexuality propaganda being foisted on the students of this
province, Chris has been subjected to unrelenting persecution.
He lost his case in the BC Supreme Court and the BC Appeals
Court, and had his case refused by the Supreme Court of Canada.
He is still under threat of further penalty from the BC
College of Teachers. Those
of us familiar with his case know that it has involved the most
important principles, including
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the
press.
Chris has been a
splendid example of compassion towards those whose life-style he
disagrees with. He
has been careful to distinguish between opposition to the ideas of
others and hostility towards his opponents.
Such hostility has been foreign to Chris’s approach, and
we have admired that.
BC Parents and
Teachers for Life is planning to honour Chris at a testimonial
dinner on October 20th (at a location in Lower Mainland BC to be
decided on). We would like to invite our members, and
members of other pro-family groups to join us at that dinner.
We believe that this should be an event that will be enjoyable for
all who attend, who will have the satisfaction of helping to show
respect for the stand Chris has taken on behalf of the children
and youth of our schools.
BC Parents and Teachers for Life
"Free
to Speak the Truth" Conference Held October 16th, 2004
at Days Surrey Hotel, Surrey, British Columbia
Immediately below we present the written versions of
two speeches
given at the British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life Conference
held on October 16th, 2004. We hope that by posting these speeches
we will enable those not able to be at the conference to benefit. In
some cases the speeches may be somewhat abridged in the form given here.
Going
on the Offensive Against the Offensive
(Without
Being Offensive)
Dr.
Chris Kempling Psy.D. R.C.C.
Registered
Clinical Counsellor
BC
Teachers & Parents For Life Conference
Surrey,
BC
October
16, 2004
I
have titled my talk, Going on the Offensive against the Offensive
without being Offensive.
I will talk about the second “Offensive” first, then follow
with the other two in combination.
Let me make one thing clear.
Homosexual people are not offensive.
In fact, I happen to like every one that I have met.
But many faith traditions condemn same sex behaviour as offensive.
So
what is just so offensive about homosexual behaviour?
Isn’t it just two people loving one another in the same caring
way that heterosexual couples do?
Why is it anybody’s business what two people do in the privacy of
their own bedrooms?
That’s what Pierre Trudeau said in 1968 to justify the removal of
homosexuality from the criminal code.
The big difference now is that gay activists do not want their
sexual conduct to remain a private affair, but wish to teach everybody’s
children that their behaviour is normal, natural, moral, and the same as
the sexual behaviour carried out in the context of a heterosexual
marriage.
They wish to teach your children that homosexuality, bisexuality,
transgenderism, transvestitism, and sado-masochism are merely normal
variants of human sexual expression.
They want to make it everybody’s business.
And that is offensive to me as a Christian, as a parent, and as a
mental health professional, because I believe the evidence clearly shows
that that position is not only false, but also presents great risks to the
physical and mental health of our young people.
Several
years ago, when I was working as a high school counselor, I chose to
attend a conference called Youth at Risk.
It was held in Richmond, and was sponsored by the Ministry of
Education.
One of the workshops was entitled, Gay, Lebsian, Bisexual and
Transgendered Youth at Risk.
I thought it would be a good workshop for me to attend, as my
knowledge in this area was somewhat limited.
The
workshop was filled with educators like myself.
The presenters were members of the Vancouver homosexual community.
In the workshop they stated as fact that 10% of the population is
homosexual.
That is simply incorrect, and based on the inflated and biased
research from 1948 of Dr. Alfred Kinsey.
They gave us a resource booklet to hand out to our students.
In it was the phone number of an organization called Vancouver
Jack. I
asked what that was.
It is a masturbation club.
They
handed us the community newspaper of Vancouver homosexuals, called Xtra
West, and recommended we make it available to our students, by
providing it in libraries and counseling office waiting rooms.
Then the presenter said, “But you may wish to avoid reading the
classified ads.”
Of course we all did.
The personal classified ads, several pages of them, were almost
entirely devoted to people seeking casual sex partners.
They graphically described the size and peculiar characteristics of
their genitalia, as well as their preferred perversions.
I saw ads for those seeking others to urinate or defecate on them.
Now I found this offensive just to read, but even more offensive
was the suggestion that I supply this information to my students.
Last time I checked, teachers who supply pornography to their
students don’t last long in the profession.
Yet when I called Xtra West pretending I was interested in
having it at my school, they confirmed they send copies to several high
schools, and all of the tax supported Gay Youth Centres in the Lower
Mainland.
I thought this was outrageous, and wrote several letters to the
Minster of Education, who expressed no concern that workshop leaders hired
by his ministry were making such recommendations or that pornographic
material was being supplied to adolescents as reading material.
A colleague I spoke with thought this material was suitable to
include in the school library.
That is why I started writing publicly to alert parents as to what
was being recommended for their children, and that is why I have been
convicted of conduct unbecoming a member of the teaching profession.
I
find it offensive that behaviours which are still classified as mentally
abnormal, such as transgenderism, transvestitism, and sado-masochism are
promoted as normal variants.
I find it offensive that having an average of 100 different sexual
partners in a year, which was the average number reported by a research
study conducted in Boston in 1980, is thought to be acceptable.
I find it offensive that despite years of anti-AIDS education, over
40% of young gay men in Vancouver are still engaging in unprotected
receptive anal intercourse, which is the most efficient way to acquire
HIV. That
statistic is from Health Canada. Another study done in South Florida found
that three-quarters of HIV positive men are engaging
in risky sexual behaviour and are not informing their partners of
their HIV positive status.
I
find it offensive that the risks of acquiring HIV and AIDS are presented
as similar between the orientations, when over 70% of new HIV infections
are among men who have sex with other men.
I find it offensive that bathhouses are freely advertised in
newspapers like Xtra
West supplied to adolescents, when it is common knowledge that they
are venues for orgies, and perverse sexual behaviours such as sex
involving urine and feces.
I find it offensive that children as young as 12 are taught the
techniques of fisting, the insertion of the entire hand inside another
person’s rectum.
This was done at an “awareness” forum in Massachusetts on March
25, 2000 by members of the state’s department of education.
The parent who secretly recorded the presentation and made it
public was sued by the workshop presenters for recording the event without
permission.
I
find it offensive that revered Christian prophets are claimed to be
homosexual based on specious interpretations of scripture.
Materials produced by the Gay and Lesbian Educators of BC state
that King David and Jonathan were gay lovers.
It is an outrageous insult, not only to Christians, but to Jews as
well. Others
have speculated that Ruth and Naomi were lesbians.
It
offends me that sexual confused young people are taught that people are
born gay and that there is no way to change their orientation.
That is simply untrue, and I have personally met former homosexual
people who can attest to that.
In fact, one week ago today a video documentary called “I Do
Exist” detailing the lives of five former homosexuals was released.
One of them is a man by the name of Noe Guiterrez.
This is significant because Mr. Guiterrez is a featured speaker in
a 1996 documentary called “It’s Elementary”, which is used to
indoctrinate elementary school children in this province and throughout
North America.
He used to be a gay activist.
Now he’s an ex-gay activist.
Who said God doesn’t have a sense of humour?
It
offends me that whenever someone dares to state publicly that their
religious beliefs condemn homosexual behaviour, they are branded as
hateful and homophobic, suffering from a mental illness, a phobia, for
having politically incorrect opinions. It offends me that honourable men
of God like Rev. Stephen Boissoin and Rev. Ken Campbell, are hauled before
Human Rights Tribunals and forced to explain why they were speaking
publicly about what God’s Word says about immoral sexual behaviour.
It
is easy, however, to be privately indignant about such offensive
situations.
What do we do about it, and how can we go about it in a way that
produces positive results? How can we go on the offensive without being
offensive?
Frankly,
I think it is now too late to prevent homosexual information from reaching
our children in public schools.
The gay lobby has achieved many of their goals.
Stan Persky, a homosexual activist who is a philosophy professor at
North Vancouver’s Capilano College, said in an article in Xtra West
dated June 29, 2000, that leaders in the gay community have known all
along that heterosexual young people could be recruited into the gay
lifestyle.
Here
is what he said: “The Good Grey Gay establishment stood up, to a man,
and solemnly but hypocritically assured one and all that good homosexuals
would never do anything so sneaky and underhanded as to persuade someone
to be gay or engage in homosexual acts. The official gay leadership
insisted that gays were born gay, and that no one who wasn’t gay could
be turned into a homo, not even for 10 minutes.
Of course, they were lying through their teeth…And worst of all,
they persuade other people—often young people who aren’t necessarily
gay—to give a go.
And guess what?
Some of those who give it a go keep on going…the main
battleground of the homo movement is not the wedding aisle of a nice
church, but the nasty schoolyard.”
And
what is the perfect vehicle for heterosexual teenagers who are
“bi-curious” to flirt with homosexuality?
Gay Straight Alliance Clubs.
. . . . GSA’s were started in 1996 in the US and there are
now over 1200 of them there.
In Massachusetts, every high school in the state has a GSA.
There are Gay Straight Alliance Clubs up and running now in 22 BC
high schools, most in the Vancouver and Victoria area.
A helpful pamphlet on how to start and run them is provided by
GALE-BC, and distributed by the teachers’ union to every high school.
The
BCTF announced
in 1997 that combating homophobia and heterosexism was a top priority of
the union.
What they didn’t tell anyone were the results of a survey of 500
rank and file teachers done that year.
The survey, published in March 1997, asked teachers what their top
priority was in terms of social justice issues.
Guess which one placed last—homophobia.
Not ten days later, at the 1997 BCTF Annual General Meeting,
measures to combat homophobia were declared to be a “top priority”.
Teachers who wanted to speak against the motion were denied the
opportunity to speak. In fact, gay activists met with delegates against
the motion the night before the vote, and told them what the outcome was
going to be, and that opposition was futile.
Sure enough, the next day, five speakers in a row got up to speak
in favour of the motion.
Supporters of the gay agenda were working the line-ups of the five
microphone to see which way people were intending to speak.
Finally, one person opposed to the motion spoke.
The chairman of the meeting immediately declared that both sides of
the issue had been heard and called for a vote.
It passed overwhelmingly, and newspaper reports the next day
commented that “there was surprisingly little opposition at the
microphones” to the controversial motion.
That’s because only one person was permitted to speak against the
motion and it was all arranged in advance.
The BC Teachers Federation has the patina of democracy, but in
reality they don’t pay attention to what the members really want.
I think the term “secular humanist mafia” fits well.
The
new BC Career and Personal Planning 10 curriculum directs teachers to
instruct students with ways to eliminate homophobia and heterosexism.
Every student in the province must take this course to graduate
now. The
web site for the Gay and Lesbian Educators of BC is an approved resource
link in the government’s curriculum guide.
When
I looked at GALE-BC’s website, here’s what I found about their goals
for the school system:
Encourage cross dressing and gender bending, eliminate the myth
that there are only two sexes, remove gender boxes from all school forms,
mandatory instruction in gay friendly sex education, include transgendered
examples in all curriculum areas, and insert examples of gay and lesbian
persons in all curriculum areas and all grades from kindergarten to grade
12.
Now
let me make one thing clear. I believe that Canadian school children
should be taught about orientation issues at the appropriate age level.
They should be taught that it is totally unacceptable to harass or
bully those of alternate orientations.
The information they are provided with should be balanced,
factually accurate, and respectful of the sensitivity that members of many
religions have on this matter.
The problem is, that those who have been entrusted with actually
producing instructional materials are activists in homosexual
organizations, who have a vested interest in presenting the information in
a way that portrays them in the best possible light, and portraying those
who oppose homosexuality as bigoted, ignorant, or, as Svend Robinson put
it, Neanderthals.
One
resource I reviewed produced by GALE BC called Counselling Lesbian and Gay
Youth, stated that teachers must “dishonour” the attitude that
heterosexuality is the only correct form of sexual behaviour.
I wrote to the authors suggesting that it was inappropriate to
attempt to dishonour the sincerely held religious views of their students,
but I was dismissed as homophobic, and they refused to remove that
offensive statement.
The same resource stated that even those who only tolerate
homosexuality are homophobic—only outright acceptance and affirmation is
an acceptable attitude.
Schools have become the primary focus of the homosexual lobby, and
recently members of that group made a presentation in my son’s school.
In
British Columbia, the College of Teachers regulates the teaching
profession.
They have the authority to demand that universities include certain
courses in their teacher education curriculum.
A colleague of mine who was on the College of Teachers, told me
that the accomplishment she was most proud of, was implementing a
requirement that every teacher education program in the province have a
mandatory course in “anti-oppression pedagogy”.
In other words, all prospective teachers must pass a course which
teaches them how to combat homophobia and heterosexism, the “erroneous
and dangerous” belief that heterosexuality is the only approved form of
sexual behaviour.
A young woman from my church was in one of these courses at UBC,
taught by a professor who was a lesbian.
The professor denounced me by name to the whole class.
To her credit, this young woman stood up and said, “I personally
know this man.
He attends my church and he is nothing like you are portraying
him.” Now
that took a lot of courage.
So
how can you go on the offensive against the offensive without being
offensive?
I have some very specific suggestions for you.
1)
Get informed.
Read everything you can.
Check out websites which provide an alternate point of view.
Examples include www.narth.com,
www.peoplecanchange.com, www.fotf.ca,
www.pathinfo.org, www.gaytostraight.com,
www.familyresearchinst.org,
www.pfox.org, and www.exodusnorthamerica.com.
Read books such as Dr. Jeffery Satinover’s Homosexuality and the
Politics of Truth, and a book by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, the president of
the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality,
entitled A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.
An informed parent is the best antidote to dealing with biased
information.
For example, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, still
lists Gender Identity Disorder, Transvestitism, Fetishism, and Sado-masochism
as treatable mental disorders.
There is also a treatment category called “persistent and marked
distress about one’s sexual orientation” which validates therapy for
orientation change.
Furthermore, orientation change therapy research has been recently
published in established, peer reviewed psychological journals, such as
Dr. Robert Spitzer’s research published in the October, 2003 issue of
the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
2)
Speak to your child’s teacher about what they will be teaching
your son or daughter about sexual orientation.
Let them know you wish to have copies of their handouts, and be
informed in advance of any guest speakers. Ask for credentials of guest
speakers and ask if they have evidence of a clean criminal record check.
3)
Get a copy of your school district’s resource challenge policy,
and make sure you follow the protocol to the letter.
Generally it means speaking first to the teacher, then to the
principal, then following up with a clear and specific letter of complaint
to the school superintendent, if neither the teacher or the principal is
willing to stop using the resource.
In my district, the superintendent is obliged to strike a committee
to investigate the matter, made up of staff not directly connected with
the subject area.
Get a copy of whatever you are concerned about, and get some expert
assistance to confirm if it is flawed, biased, or offensive to religious
beliefs.
Every school district should have this policy in their policy
manual. One
of the GALE BC resources is called Challenging Homophobia in Schools.
It is deeply flawed.
I wrote a detailed assessment of that resource which is posted at www.bcptl.org.
It has just been revised, but I haven’t reviewed the new version.
The first edition was poorly researched and biased in more ways
that I can count.
4)
Use the teachers’ code of ethics to your advantage.
In British Columbia, the very first point of the BCTF Code of
Ethics says, “The teacher speaks and acts towards students with respect
and dignity and deals judiciously with them, always mindful of their
individual rights and sensibilities.”
This means that if you let your child’s teacher know about your
“sensibilities” on orientation issues, they are ethically bound to
respect that by exempting your child from a particular lesson or by
ensuring all sides of a controversial issue are treated in a balanced way.
It also means that Christian or Sikh or Muslim students should not
be indoctrinated with false teachings about sexuality which directly
contradict the values of their faith.
It means that dignity and rights of heterosexuals, which is an
orientation, must be also respected.
You know what they call us behind our backs?
Breeders.
It means that teachers should not use biased, inaccurate and
propaganda-like teaching resources.
It means that no teacher should be trying to dishonour the
teachings of the word of God.
And believe me, there are very, very few teachers willing to stand
up to assertive parents who know what they are talking about.
5)
There is another point in the BCTF’s Code of Ethics which says
this: “The teacher recognizes that a privileged relationship with
students exists and refrains from exploiting that relationship for
material, ideological, or other advantage.”
That means that using biased resources to instruct children with
information that is hostile to Christian beliefs is unethical, because it
exploits children for ideological advantage.
To combat heterosexism, which is the belief that only
heterosexuality is appropriate moral sexual behaviour, means that
Christian children must be taught the opposite of what we teach them in
our homes and in our churches.
6)
Point 4 of the BCTF Code of Ethics says, “The teacher is willing
to review with colleagues, students, and their parents/ guardians the
quality of service rendered by the teacher and the practices employed in
discharging professional duties.” Teachers are ethically required to
speak with you about how they teach what they teach, and provide a
justification for everything they do professionally.
7)
Schools have a legitimate right to promote safety and implement
anti-bullying strategies, including bullying that targets sexual
minorities.
Publicly support these goals, but reserve the right to question how
the goals will be implemented and what materials or guest speakers will be
used.
8)
Talk to your children about this topic.
Ask them to keep you informed of when this topic comes up, and tell
them why you are concerned.
Tell them you expect them to intervene when other children bully
those who are homosexual or appear to be.
Frankly, taunting those who are effeminate has led to suicide.
It may also drive sexually confused young people into relationships
with those who “support and understand” them. Our children should not
be part of the problem.
9)
Get to know your child’s teachers and the school principal, and
show up for parent teacher conferences.
Don’t become a one-issue parent or you will have no credibility
when it really counts.
10)
Form a committee of concerned parents, and show up at school board
meetings.
Keep your focus on safety, fairness, non-discrimination, factual
accuracy, anti-harassment, appropriate resources, and respect for all
religious traditions.
Do not quote Scripture, especially “hot” verses.
You will be dismissed as a “Bible-thumper” and will not be able
to achieve your goals.
11)
Students in some US schools have responded to Gay Straight Alliance
Clubs by forming a Conservative Club, which supports traditional family
values and moral beliefs.
If a student group wishes to do this they will need adult support,
because it has been viewed with hostility in some locations.
12)
Be sensitive that many homosexual people have come out of
distressing home situations, and may sincerely believe that they were born
the way they are.
Some children are growing up in households where both parents are
of the same sex and may be legally married.
Be temperate in your public comments.
If I had to do things over again, I would still have said what I
said, but in a much gentler way.
13)
Address curriculum concerns to the Minister of Education, but
always copy your local MLA.
Get to know him or her.
If you have an established group, make an appointment to discuss
your concerns with the MLA.
Most MLA’s wish to be responsive to their constituents’
concerns even if they don’t philosophically agree with you.
14)
Use the curriculum to your advantage.
In BC, it is a requirement that students be taught about behaviours
which put them at risk of acquiring sexual transmitted diseases, and how
to avoid them.
Engaging in unprotected receptive anal intercourse with multiple
anonymous partners is common among homosexual men, so it is a fulfillment
of the curriculum to teach children that they should avoid
this behaviour.
In addition, the curriculum requires that students be taught how to
maintain good mental health.
It is well established in recent research studies that homosexual
people have much higher incidences of depression, anxiety, and especially
obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Contrary to what gay activists say, there is no evidence that it is
the result of societal homophobia.
The study in question was conducted in Holland, arguably the most
gay friendly nation on the planet, by Sandfort et al in 2001, and they
found mental illness rates among homosexuals 3-9 times that of the general
heterosexual population.
15)
Finally, protect your child.
Despite your best efforts, you may not be able to keep your child
from improper instruction, or they simply won’t tell you about
controversial lessons.
You may have to consider transferring them to a different school,
private schooling, home schooling, or even legal action against your
school district to protect your child.
The
gay lobby wants everyone to join with them in being proud of
homosexuality.
But no God fearing person can be proud of sinful behaviour.
It will take courage and determination to speak out and you will
not be applauded by the world for doing this.
Some time ago, I found my face on a crudely made Wanted poster in a
local Laundromat, saying Un-wanted: for Homophobia.
This is not a job for thin-skinned people.
When
we take direct action, however, we must do it in a way that protects not
only our own children, but children who are indeed confused about their
orientation.
They need to be protected from harassment and name-calling, and I
call upon Christian boys and girls to stand up in defense of those who
are, or appear to be gay. Let it never be said of our children that they
participated in the harassment of their classmates because of their
orientation. These children deserve our compassion and support, because I
am convinced that most of them cannot help how they feel.
Christian
parents, talk your children as I have done with my own, and tell them that
you expect them to intervene to protect those who are subjected to
name-calling and harassment.
Scripture calls for us to pray for those who persecute us, and do
good to those who consider themselves our enemies.
Besides, who among us is without sin?
There
is a middle ground, where children who need support and protection from
harassment can receive it, while Christian children are also protected
from false teaching about orientation issues.
But some children and their parents need to hear a message of hope
that orientation is indeed changeable, and that there is help for them if
they wish to change. As a clinical member of the National Association for
Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, I hope I can assist my colleagues
who wish to help those who want to change.
I
seem to have accumulated quite a few enemies along the way, and I’ll
admit sometimes it has been difficult for me and especially for my wife.
I’ll close with the words of Psalm 55:
But
I call to God and He saves me
He
ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me,
Even
though many oppose me…
Cast
your cares upon the Lord and He will sustain you.
He
will never let the righteous fall.
Thank
you for inviting me to speak, and may God bless you all.
Dr.
Chris Kempling Psy.D. R.C.C.
Registered
Clinical Counsellor
250-983-3949
Quesnel,
BC V2J
5R5
Kempling@telus.net
Working
Together to Spread the Truth
(speech by Ted Hewlett
at the October 16th, 2004,
BC Parents and Teachers Conference)
In considering the topic of working together to spread the truth, I want
to first of all depict the situation in which we find ourselves, then
discuss what common basis of belief we have for our action, and then go on
to propose some concrete measures for action.
Considering the situation we are in, unfortunately, is not likely to be
comforting. But it is essential to face that situation realistically
if we are to be motivated to act together and if we are to have a clear
direction for our common action.
In
Canada
today we live in a comfortable society. Most of us are supplied with
the necessities of life and much more. But we are making a bad
mistake if we do not recognize the warning signs that tell us that in many
ways our society is headed in the wrong direction.
Consider the fact that in
Canada
a baby can be killed up to the moment of birth simply at the choice or
whim of its parents and the doctor. Our politicians—with a few
notable exceptions—are content to leave this situation as it stands.
This is called “social peace.” Well, it is time we
disturbed the social peace. Abolitionists like Wilberforce, and
Harriet Beecher Stowe disturbed the social peace to call for an end to
slavery. Reformers like Lord Shaftsbury disturbed the social
peace to call for an end to horrendous conditions of child labour in the
period of the early Industrial Revolution. The Hebrew prophets
disturbed social peace to rail on the oppressors of the poor and
downtrodden.
When we see that in Canada the infant can be destroyed up to the moment of
his or her birth, and that in British Columbia the young girl can be
counselled against her parents’ wishes, and against her parents
knowledge, to destroy her unborn child, when we see that schools can
be compelled to propagandize not only teenagers but primary children on
behalf of behaviour which their parents regard as immoral and dangerous,
then we know that we must not be silent. When we see that those who
speak out against such things can be silenced by the heavy hand of judges
who are unelected and without responsibility to anyone except possibly to
the politicians who appointed them, then we know that we must bear witness
together before it is too late .
In the midst of all the bad news regarding Canadian society
something good is happening. People from widely varying groups are
coming together. [Men and women from churches separated by
centuries of history and from ethnic groups widely divergent in their
geographical origins are finding that in basic moral matters they
have much in common. Their love of family, their devotion to their
children, and their commitment to the basics of conduct that have formed
the foundations of their lives: all these have impelled them to
unite in defence of those things which are threatened by the agenda
of the new social engineers.]
Over the years we have witnessed and been
part of this coming together. Catholics and Protestants and people
of non-Christian beliefs, Canadians whose forebears came from Europe and
Asia and
Africa
and all over the world have recognized that we have a common
responsibility to defend what is precious to all of us: the
family and the virtues which are essential to our nation.
As well as individuals, different organizations which have formed to
defend the family and stand up for foundational virtues have also found
ways to work together. We in BC Parents and Teachers for Life have
worked with other organizations and sought to help bring them together.
In seeking to promote the pro-life message we have given publicity to the
work of other pro-life groups. We have found a common interest in
defending the family with other groups working in BC. We have worked
together with traditional pro-life organizations, and with CASJAFVA and
REAL Women, participating in rallies and meetings in support of marriage
and in support of the right of teachers such as Chris Kempling to speak
out on behalf of youth. We have communicated with the Office
of Life and Family and Focus on the Family. We have come together
with a wide variety of groups to defend marriage, basic morality, and the
rights of freedom of speech and religion.
How can we increase our effectiveness in working together as people who
wish to support the family and defend the basis of our society? That
is the main thrust of what I want to talk about today. [We surely
can not doubt the need to increase that effectiveness. In most of
the mainstream press an unlimited right to abortion is considered a
settled matter in
Canada
. The right to so-called gay marriage is considered a matter of
civil rights. The right of the state to determine the values our
children are taught is not protested. The entertainment industry is a
cheering section for a brave new world where the things we hold dear are
subjected to ridicule and abuse.]
I would like to suggest three main areas in which we can increase our
effectiveness. The first of these is thinking
together. By this I mean sharing our knowledge with one
another and taking advantage of the knowledge shared. One of the
great things that has happened is the advent of a wonderful network of
groups which regularly distribute information. Some of this
information is in print form. If you are dependent on the print
media, may I urge you not to depend only on mainstream sources.
Groups like BC Parents and Teachers for Life, and REAL Women, and the
Canada Family Action Committee, Focus on the Family, and your local
pro-life groups put out information on issues which the regular papers
normally do not deal with or deal with showing a bias against pro-family,
pro-life positions. Far too many of those who should be our allies
do not know the facts they should know. For example, many pro-life
people are still unaware that in
Canada
a baby can be aborted right up to the moment of its birth, and that there
is no law in
Canada
against partial-birth abortion.
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