I was reading some recent e-mail updates from the Religious Right Culture War groups. This particular article comes from Concerned Women for America (CWA).
In the ongoing Culture War, misinformation, defamation, mischaracterization, bearing false witness, and all that are fair game in order to achieve the end goal. The means by which the end goal is achieved no longer matters, just so the end is achieved. This may be considered acceptable behavior in the secular world these days, but it should never be acceptable within the Christian Church. Within Christianity, the means are everything. There may certainly be an end goal to achieve, but the way the struggle is conducted is everything for the Christian. When we descend into the same methods as the “world,” our witness is shot, the cause of Christ is defamed, and our eternal souls are corrupted. That is exactly what the Religious Right Culture War organizations do – they engage in these methods to attempt to achieve their goals. And, the world looks on and stays as far away from the church as they can.
So, a latest round of attack concerns the “Day of Silence” (DOS) sponsored by Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). As stated on the website, here is the purpose of DOS,

“The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools… Hundreds of thousands of students came together on April 25 to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior.”

The DOS has been going on for a few years now, and it always gets the ire of the Religious Right groups. This year, various Religious Right groups sponsored a walk-out to protest a schools participation in the DOS. The following article from CWA is a follow-up to the walk-out. It is an example of spreading misinformation, bearing false witness, etc., rather than relying on good, sound argument.
Frankly, sadly, it cracks me up to read the author of the following article use words like “disruption” and “freethinking.” I lived over half my life in American-Evangelicalism. I’m glad I did; there is a lot of good within the tradition. However, the Religious Right groups are something different and I know how they think. They know what they are doing. Just like Karl Rove and the means he devises to win elections, these people calculate ways of winning and imposing their narrow perspective (theologically, culturally, politically), and it has nothing to do with freethinking. Their use of “spin” and propaganda is amazing.
I have no problem with people stating their views and attempting to persuade others of the rightness of their cause. The freedoms we enjoy in this country demand such activity. However, as Christians we are to be above board in all that we do and say and avoid being so influenced by our culture that we end up lying to win. That is what too many people who are a part of the Religious Right are doing, and it is wrong. It is defaming the cause of Christ and destroying our witness.
One more thing: read the comments made over at the Onenewsnow.com website where I first found out about the article. The idolatry expressed concerning the USA through unabated nationalism is too much. I love the US, but as a Christian whether this nation-state exists or not is irrelevant. The Religious Right has made an idol out of the USA.
Here is the article concerning DOS from CWA:
Enough with the ‘gay’ stuff!
Matt Barber – Guest Columnist – 5/5/2008 1:40:00 PM
On April 25, adult homosexual activists with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) held their annual “Day of Silence” (DOS) propaganda push. During DOS, teachers and students in roughly 3,000 middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country are cynically used as culture war pawns in an effort to legitimize conventionally immoral, objectively deviant and demonstrably high-risk sexual behaviors.
Kids and teachers are encouraged on DOS to disrupt the school day by refusing to speak in class as a show of support to students who self-identify as “GLBT” (No, GLBT has nothing to do with bacon, lettuce and tomato; it’s liberalese for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender”).
DOS purports to confront the alleged systematic harassment and bullying of sexually confused students who consider themselves “GLBT.” Naturally, where there is actual bullying, anywhere, anytime, for any reason, those responsible should be firmly disciplined. However, the reality is that DOS has very little to do with “bullying” and has everything to do with pro-homosexual, anti-Christian indoctrination.
Consider that during DOS, many kids who hold time-honored traditional values relative to sexual morality (i.e., that human sexuality is a gift from God to be shared between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage) are frequently and ironically tagged as “hateful,” “bigoted,” and “homophobic.” (Who’s doing the bullying?)
But this year, something extraordinary happened on the way to the brainwashing. Kids at schools all over the country stood tall and said, “Enough is enough!” Untold thousands of students participated in a peaceful, pro-family counter effort called the “Day of Silence Walkout.”

In unyielding defense of God’s design for natural human sexuality, marriage and family, these gutsy kids stayed home from school on DOS (with their parents’ permission) and let school officials know why. Some of them even participated in peaceful prayer rallies outside school in support of sexual morality and purity.
The DOS Walkout was an overwhelming success and far exceeded the expectations of the dozens of participating pro-family organizations, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA).
Take the Seattle area’s Mount Si High School for instance. Out of 1,410 students, nearly half (638) reportedly walked out of school on DOS with a unified voice saying, “No! We’re here to learn. We refuse to be subject to radical homosexual indoctrination at school or anywhere else!”
The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, a former pro-football player, current pro-family champion and pastor of Antioch Bible Church, led the charge in defense of God’s moral standard at Mount Si. He organized a prayer rally outside the school — which his daughter attends — and was joined by hundreds of parents, children and community members.
This year’s DOS Walkout was an amazing triumph for righteousness and is terrific news indeed. But better news is yet to come. God has a wonderful way of taking that which is intended for evil — such as the upside-down promotion of sexual sin through DOS — and turning it right-side up for good.
Christians, and others who value light over darkness, are often deeply discouraged to watch, with a feeling of helplessness, as moral gangrene sets in to our nation’s cultural fabric. We’re overwhelmed as standards of decency and morality seem to rot away around us.
Well, take heart. With kids like those at Mount Si High School — and elsewhere around the country — taking such a bold stand for truth, we should all be encouraged. The next generation of leaders is clearly not as completely lost as many believe. We’re witnessing a shift in the tide, and I submit that this great nation is ripe for redemption.
Over the next few years, don’t be surprised when, as people hear mention of the so-called “Day of Silence,” they immediately think, “Oh, yeah, isn’t that the day when tens of thousands of freethinking kids come together in defense of that which is good, and stand firm against the promotion of evil?” Don’t be surprised when the “Day of Silence” is no longer considered a day which mocks God’s standard of sexual morality, but rather, is deemed a day which wholeheartedly glorifies it.
Yes, take heart. God’s truth will fill the silent void. His children will take back America for Christ.

Matt Barber is one of the “like-minded men” with Concerned Women for America. He is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as CWA’s policy director for cultural issues.