In my quest for information about homeschooling (update on that situation coming soon), I keep coming across the blogs of what I call “creepy homeschoolers”: the people who, like Raani Starnes, come right out and say that they homeschool their children to keep them away from homosexuals. And they accuse gays of being sex obsessed. Yeeaah, uh huh…
So, the other day I came across a blog called Mom Loves Being At Home. I can certainly relate to that, but that’s also where the camaraderie ends.
The post that got my attention was entitled This is one of the reasons we homeschool. Can you guess what the reason was? You guessed it: those dreaded homosexuals! They’re hiding behind every bush just waiting to sodomize anything with a pulse, I tell you!
I want to take a quick detour here to say how utterly weird this is to me; I honestly cannot get my head around it. Even at my most religious, I couldn’t bring myself to care about other people’s sexual preferences or activities. I actually felt guilty at one point, convinced that I was a bad Christian because I just could not work myself into a queer-hating frenzy.
Anyway, Mom Apparently Also Hates Telling the Truth. She wrote, in a comment under the above-linked post, that the Day Of Silence was “about promoting the homosexual lifestyle in the public school system”. I posted a comment correcting her, but she deleted it. This wasn’t totally unexpected, so I copied it to a draft for safekeeping.
This is the comment that was so offensive it had to be removed:
Lottie, on October 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm Said: Your comment is awaiting moderation.No it is not about promoting the homosexual lifestyle. It is about not bullying and harassing LGBT students. It was held in memory of Lawerence King, an 8th grader who was murdered because he was gay.
Do you not see the difference? Do you seriously oppose a non-violent, civil and very quiet demonstration that serves only to bring awareness to such a tragedy and attempts to put a stop to this kind of violence?
Is that what Christianity does to people?
Of course, the truth doesn’t line up with the homophobic propaganda she’s been sucking down from the American Family Association before regurgitating onto her own blog, so she simply deletes it, which means she is knowingly and deliberately promoting a lie. Nice values there. Can’t let the truth interfere with the agenda, though!
Those pesky little facts always seem to send the hate-mongering fundies into hiding (Raani Starnes’ blog is now open only to invited guests).
Another thing a lot of these creepy homeschoolers have on their blogs is Proverbs 22:6, which says:
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
It seems that hate, intolerance and dishonesty are all part of the training for these people.
As much as I feel sorry for the kids at this point, I’m also glad, in a way, that they’re being kept home. This way, they’re not running loose in the public schools spreading the hatefulness their parents are indoctrinating them with. As if we needed anymore of that…
UPDATE: More underhanded, dishonest maneuvers from Mom:
After deleting my comment from her blog and then posting a 417 word comment on mine, she also posted the same long-winded comment on her blog in response to my comment which she refused. While she’s perfectly within her rights to do this, it’s just another example of how dishonest she is, and how she’s more interested in promoting an agenda full of lies and bigotry than in having an honest discussion.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I just had a thought – wouldn’t they be in favour of promoting the “homosexual lifestyle”?
The more people who are inclined to be gay they “recruit”, the fewer will end up breeding because they’ve forced themselves or been forced into heterosexual relationships, meaning that the only people breeding will be the heterofundamentalists, meaning that the straights win!
Hurray for craziness!
October 26th, 2008 at 11:25 am
These goggles…
I can always count on you to expose teh crazy.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:32 am
As far as deleting comments they don’t agree with, I’m finding the same thing. You would think they would welcome dissenting views because it would give them a chance to prove their point. But I guess I made too much sense. Logic does not seem to be a strong point of fundamentalism.
As far as non-creepy homeschoolers are concerned, I suggest you look at the other end of the spectrum. A lot more progressives and liberals are homeschooling their children too. They are suspicious of the conforming influence on their children. You may find a couple of nut jobs on that end too but it will also give you the tools to find a happy medium.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Thanks for commenting, Swandiver.
I think the problem with a lot of them is that they don’t actually know how to make their point because they’re just repeating what they’ve been told by their leaders. No thought required. When challenged, they choke, because they don’t really know what they’re talking about in the first place. It’s easier for them to keep their heads in the sand than to think critically and honestly discuss things.
I’ve actually found several good sources on secular homeschooling, and a secular homeschool support group in my area. I wrote about it here if you’d like to have look.
Feel free to comment any time.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I love surrounding myself with thinking, dissenting friends, and you’re one of the best! Thanks, Lottie!
October 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
You really should do a little research before slamming people on your blog. Not that I’m too concerned about your opinion of me but what you have written here is not backed up by facts. Not about me anyway. I have never written anything about fearing homosexuals, thinking that all homosexuals are sodomizers, or anything of the sort. You also won’t find posts that are filled with hate for anyone. I don’t believe that’s the way to operate.
Not that you’ll probably care but I deleted your comment because after reading it I came to your blog to see what it was like. I have had people comment on my blog only to direct traffic to their blogs and it’s things I don’t really care to send people to. Your blog seems filled with hatefulness, hate, bigotry – all the things you are accusing others of who disagree with you. It was obvious by your comment (because it was an attack -not an attempt at a discussion) that you weren’t interested in a dialog about the subject, you were only interested in promoting your agenda. That’s fine – I don’t have a problem with that but I don’t have to allow you to do it on my blog. The post you are referring to is also 7 months old and I’ve moved on to other topics at this point. I’m not really interested in going back to a 7 month old topic and debating it.
Just in case you do care about the truth – I don’t keep my kids home to keep them away from homosexuals themselves – I keep them home because I don’t agree with the teaching that goes on in the public school system, not only about the homosexual lifestyle but about many other things as well. I, like you, am not interested in anyone’s sex life either – it’s none of my business. Do you honestly think that because we are a homeschooling family that we never encounter a homosexual? You must not understand homeschooling if so. We do not lock ourselves in our home and never come out. We live and participate in the city in which we live and we come across homosexuals. I’m here to tell you I’ve never run and hide from a one of them!
It’s interesting how you sit in judgment of me and others and you slam our faith because we don’t agree about homosexuality – aren’t you doing the same thing you are accusing us of? Hate goes both ways you know.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Thanks, Bonnie! Right back at ya!
October 26th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
So, you don’t care about my opinion of you and yet you write a 417 word comment in response to it. And all this from the person who wouldn’t allow my little bitty comment on her blog.
1. You weren’t the only person referenced in my post.
2. Your homework assignment for the day is to look up the definition of “facetious” and write it one hundred times.
I do just fine traffic-wise, thank you very much.
I don’t see countering hate as being hateful.
So correcting you and stating a fact is an attack. Okie dokie…
And the only “agenda” I was promoting was the one that says it’s not OK to bully, harass or murder people just because they’re gay. Oh, and telling the truth. Apparently, you oppose both.
Absolutely! You are perfectly within your rights to delete comments as you see fit, for any reason or no reason at all. And I’m perfectly within my rights to respond on my blog.
And allowing the comment would force you to debate it? Swandiver was right – logic isn’t exactly a strong point here is it?
Yes, I saw the title of the post. It’s one of the reasons you homeschool. That doesn’t make it less bigoted.
And yet it’s one of the reasons you homeschool your children. Weird…
No. I never said or even implied such a thing.
Yes, I’m fully aware.
So what do you want, a medal? You don’t run and hide from them. Big whoop! You still promote bigotry and lies and refuse to allow truthful comments that counter your lies and bigotry, which means you are knowingly and deliberately promoting lies. Is that anything like bearing false witness? Hm?
I am not slamming your faith unless bigotry is part of it. And, no, countering lies and bigotry is not the same thing as promoting lies and bigotry.
Indeed! Bigotry spreads hate and I hate bigotry. Yes, it does seem to run both ways.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Shame…
October 26th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Mike: Check out the update I just added to the bottom of the post.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
So… Not just stupid, but underhanded, too? Figures.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
So it seems.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
And you guys are the type of people I’m supposed to have a “discussion” with? You have proven my point very well. Thank you.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
“You guys”? You wouldn’t be generalizing, would you?
This is my blog. I am the one who wrote the post. I responded to every single point you made. Yes, I have attempted to engage you in discussion both here and on your blog. You, on the other hand, have deleted my comments from your blog and refuse to respond to the comment I posted to you here. And you think this proves that _I_ am not interested in discussion?
No, Mom, thank you for making my point!
October 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I just read your page “on commenting.” It’s interesting to note that you are in an upheaval because I didn’t post your comment on my blog but you have the same “no guarantee” policy on yours as I do on mine.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
The fact that you are the primary educator of young children is rather frightening.
First of all, I have said several times that you are perfectly within your rights to delete comments as you see fit.
Secondly, this has far less to do with a deleted comment than it does about the promotion of lies and bigotry. The fact that you seem unable to grasp this very simple concept tells me quite a lot.
You might also note that, in spite of my “no guarantee” policy which I could very easily fall back on as an excuse to delete your comments, I have allowed all of them and responded to each of them.
And you accuse me of not being interested in discussion. You’re not really thinking this through, are you? You see, unlike you, I don’t make long-winded posts or comments to people on my blog and then refuse to allow them to speak.
Finally, despite my “no guarantee” policy, with over 1200 comments logged, I could count the ones I didn’t allow on one hand, even if I had a couple of fingers missing.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
It makes the vein in my temple throb to realize that Christians equate taking a time-out to reflect on stopping the bullying, terrorizing, and ostracizing of GLBT students with “promoting homosexuality.” I always thought that Jesus promoted tolerance, kindness, and compassion towards all people, not just those who were exactly like him in thought, behavior, and belief. I think that if Jesus were here, he’d be livid at the way people have bastardized his teachings for their own agendas.
October 27th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Good points, Bonnie! And very nicely said.
Of course, in trying to make that distinction, I’ve suddenly attacked an individual and her faith. I don’t know why I keep assuming that people actually want to know when they’ve been misinformed about something.
Something else I find disturbing is that this particular individual actually thinks I wrote this post just because she deleted my comment. There couldn’t possibly be a bigger picture here; something far more important at stake. No, it’s all about her and her blog.
::sigh::
Edit to add: Another typical accusation from people who aren’t interested in facts and honest discussion is “I deleted your comment because your just trying to drive traffic to your blog”. Again, no ability to see a bigger picture or understand that there are more important issues than blog stats.
I think I’m going to write a post listing all the lame excuses people use to avoid facing facts.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hmmm… I’ve never thought of your blog as particularly attacky. mom, &tc seems awfully defendy, though. it reminds me of something from the incomparable Douglas Adams:
“…but it instantly defended the pet shop for democracy so savagely that little in the area survived.”
October 27th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Thanks Postman. I try my best to speak my mind honestly without attacking anyone. I actually think I’m a bit of a softy, to be honest. I don’t really see how correcting misinformation is an attack, but apparently some people take it that way.
It kind of reminds me of what you said over at Rutherford’s: they can talk all kinds of nonsense, but if we refute what they say with verifiable facts, suddenly we’re being all mean and stuff.
Love the Douglas Adams reference!
October 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am
[...] 28, 2008 This past weekend, I wrote about a blogger who had misrepresented the purpose of the National Day of [...]
November 1st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hi Lottie, a friend directed me over to your blog. It’s been a good read.
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 am
Thank you! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it!