Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Oklahoma teacher says some opinions ‘should not be allowed to be heard’

Aaron Baker is an 8th-grade history teacher in the Mid-Del school district and a blogger who promotes "radical social justice in Oklahoma public schools." He is a principled thinker and a clear writer. And when he says "radical," he's not kidding:


Mr. Baker is not a fan of educational choice policies—even going so far as to encourage agitators to "disrupt" a school choice summit earlier this year at Oklahoma City Community College:


In a recent blog post, Mr. Baker argued that in districts like his with inclusive nondiscrimination policies, "LGBTQ issues are non-debatable in classrooms" and certain opinions "should not be allowed to be heard." Now that's interesting. How might that play out?

Let’s say a teacher is leading a robust, healthy discussion of LGBTQ issues and a dozen or so students express views consistent with an essentially tolerant, affirming, live-and-let-live ethos. But then one plucky 8th-grader raises her hand and submits the following view for consideration:
I believe that every single one of the 7.5 billion persons on this earth is a precious human being made in the image of God—and thus possesses inherent dignity and worth. All people are worthy of respect, and no one should be subjected to ridicule or bullying. Nevertheless, sometimes there are hard truths which need to be told. All of us—heterosexual and homosexual alike—are sinners. Whether our sexual brokenness manifests itself in heterosexual perversion or in homosexual deviancy, these evil acts are a serious affront to a holy God. Rather than just shrugging my shoulders, I actually have enough compassion for people to tell them the truth. (As Seinfeld character Elaine Benes famously said to her boyfriend, "You should be trying to save me! … If you think I’m going to hell, you should care that I’m going to hell!") So in a spirit of genuine love and compassion, I would say to anyone who is in bondage to same-sex intimacy and who has chosen to embrace an LGBTQ lifestyle: I hurt with you over your ­­­sexual brokenness and your sadness and your confused "sexual identity." But I have some very good news: God is offering his mercy to you! I plead with you to renounce your sexual sin and turn to Christ. I implore you to repent and believe the good news, namely, that Christ died for your sins and was raised for your justification. Jesus says to all sinners, heterosexual and homosexual alike: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This is wonderful news. But it is through tears that must I warn you that, if you do not repent, you will fall into the hands of an angry God and be cast forever into "into the outer darkness [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Would Mr. Baker consider that young lady's discourse to be what he calls "anti-gay hate speech"? Should her opinion "not be allowed to be heard"?

Red-diaper baby David Horowitz, one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s, likes to say that "inside every liberal is a totalitarian screaming to get out." This liberal intolerance was on display last week in Bernie Sanders' ugly outburst. Let's hope it doesn't come to Oklahoma classrooms.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It appears that freedom of speech is only supposed to exist for the left.

Unknown said...

Yep. Is this what I left NJ and moved to OK for?