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Here is where a lot of people seem to come to cognitive dissonance.  We need to treat all people with respect.  But, I don’t want someone teaching my children a different moral standard than what I believe.  But, I can’t deny them a teaching job at a public school because of their sexual preferences.  It is politically incorrect to say “I don’t want my children growing up learning that it is okay to marry someone of the same gender”.  But that is what I believe.  And there are a lot of other Oregonians who seem to agree with me. 

Some people may have difficulty understanding how I can say that I care about someone but I don’t want them teaching my child.  Do you want a person who steals to teach your children that it is okay to steal?  Probably not.  Does that mean that you hate the person who steals?  Unless they stole a great deal from you, perhaps not.  Many of you may say there is a great deal of difference between stealing and being gay.  True enough.  Someone who sees nothing morally wrong with homosexual marriages may not be able to comprehend what I am saying. 

Please realize this at least.  We have a wide variety of moral positions held by the population of Oregon.  Except for those moral positions that are stated in law (“don’t steal”, etc.), I don’t force my moral beliefs on someone else.  What I do hope is that others won’t force their moral beliefs on me.

We seem to be losing the ability in this country to be able to disagree with someone yet still love them.  Let us all strive through civil discourse to agree where we can.  And to love each other when we cannot agree.



posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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I don't think the school has a leg to stand on in this case.

Having said that, I would like to make a couple of points that are tangential to the main discussion that this blog post and the show host brought up in my mind.

First.  I am disappointed in the treatment of Marilyn Shannon by the host of the show.  When she mentioned that the schools were to teach children morals, the host questioned her with a tone of incredulous disbelief.  I was offended at the host’s behavior. 

Even if the Beaverton schools were not specifically tasked with instructing their students in morality, it should be obvious to the most casual observer that when placing children in an environment for six or more hours a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year with an adult given a great deal of authority who has been trained and tasked to mold their minds, that this adult will have a great deal of influence on these children's morals.  But schools are tasked with teaching children respect for others, obeying the law, showing respect for elders, and for themselves.  Where things get tricky is where do public schools draw the line at teaching much values where large portions of the population disagree, such as religious beliefs, many aspects of sexual morality (especially those for which we have laws), even health values differ across the population.

Second.  I don’t have a problem with people being gay.  I work with them with no problem.  I do have a problem with someone in an authoritative position over my children giving them the moral lesson that gays should be allowed to get married.

I have two children of school age.  I will not send them to a public school at their young age because of the education they will receive there.  Our public schools do a good job educating Oregon’s children in a fashion most people seem to be happy with.  I, however, want my children to grow up with my world view.  Not their teacher’s, nor their classmate’s world view.  As a parent, that is my prerogative and, I believe, my duty.

I am not a right wing conservative.  I am also not a left wing liberal.  Unfortunately, I also don’t fit nicely into a centrist peg hole either.  There were a lot of people that voted in Oregon to maintain that marriage is to be reserved for a man and a woman.  My suspicion is that most of those voters would also agree that homosexuals should be allowed a type of civil union.  They deserve (as human beings) to be treated with respect and love and to have contractual partnerships.  That is essentially what a marriage is except that the term marriage seem to carry additional religious (dare I say “moral”) baggage.

Continued…



posted 2 years, 6 months ago
view in context