Fighting Our Battles

I am asked all the time how I keep up the work I do with with responding to and dealing with constant forms of religious abuse, bullying, homophobia, etc. The truth of the matter is, there isn't really one answer. The way I respond to the surge of emails I get with Leviticus verses changes all the time. The type of conversations I have with my adversaries differ person-to-person, situation-to-situation.

I've spoken at a number of schools and churches to offering training workshops on responding to our adversaries. And in those trainings we explore a variety of ways we can counter arguments and work towards actions that induce change. But as I continue my work, I have to keep rethinking the way I approach social justice work. Thus I offer a meditation on how we fight our battles, from where my mind is right now. How do we go forth and "keep fighting the good fight" — as my cellmates told me while I was in jail in Waco, Texas.

Back-to-School Tip of the Year: Identifying the Gay Agenda

Over at Jesus Needs New PR, Matthew Paul Turner posted and criticized a YouTube video that discussed a "useful" Back-to-School tip for parents: identifying the hidden gay agenda in your children's schools. At first I thought the video was a parody or some satirical spoof put together by The Onion. But lo and behold, it was a Focus on the Family supported video. Watch the video after the jump.

The video informs parents on ways to identify the "gay agenda" in their children's schools by looking through the library catalog to find LGBT-affirming books oriented towards a juvenile audience, being aware of diversity trainings, anti-bullying trainings, etc. Basically, their education analyst teaches parents how to censor multiculturalism and diversity from their children.

This Is What Love In Action Looks Like

June 6, 2009 is the official release date for the DVD of the documentary "This Is What Love In Action Looks Like."  The documentary recalls the story of Zach Stark, a young man whose parents forced him to attend the Love In Action residential program when he was 16 years old (in the summer of 2005).

Below is an extended preview of the documentary:

From the film's official blog:

The documentary chronicles the personal stories of those involved and their relationships with God, the world around them and themselves as this agonizingly divisive and polarizing issue unfolds. It also features an extremely surprising, and highly unlikely friendship that developed over this time period, which no one could have predicted would form.

It follows the events that led up to and sparked this story, the ongoing protests and the events that have continued since, including state investigations into LIA’s practices, a lawsuit filed by LIA against the State of Tennessee, as well as the story of the return of a former teen client of Refuge a year later to speak out against the program in a “one year anniversary protest.”

In the years since it began, with all the media coverage and investigations, Zach had declined to tell his story. Until now. The teenager whose MySpace blogs began it all gives an exclusive interview for the documentary.