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Wash. Times' Knight: ACLU's "Promot[ion] Of Homosexuality" Is "Corrupt[ing] Innocent Children" Like "The Devil"

September 12, 2011 8:10 am ET by Media Matters staff

In a September 9 Washington Times column, Robert Knight compared the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to "the devil," suggesting both are attempting to "corrupt innocent children." Knight further complained the ACLU goes "far beyond promoting tolerance and openly promote[s] homosexuality." From the Times:

If you were the devil, what would be your most important mission, other than inventing false religions? It would be to corrupt innocent children.

[...]

I'd cloak sexual promiscuity in terms of self-fulfillment, mix it up with junk science and lobby the teachers unions to openly promote the Kinsey sex education model of children as "sexual beings" whose "orientation" has no moral relevance.

[...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is running around the country, shaking its fists at school districts and demanding that kids be exposed to whatever the homosexual movement deems appropriate. In Prince William County, Va., after an ACLU threat, school officials removed the filter blocking homosexual websites. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, has sent letters to eight school districts, including Prince William, advising them that they have every right to keep the filters. But Prince William has caved, at least for now.

[...]

Having lost the library fight, the ACLU is concentrating on schoolchildren. The websites for the gay groups that the ACLU is representing are not porn sites, but they are gateways to a world of temptation for vulnerable children unsure about their sexuality. They go far beyond promoting tolerance and openly promote homosexuality.

Previously:

More Homophobia From Wash. Times' Robert Knight

Wash. Times' Knight: Fight For Marriage Equality Is An "Unholy Campaign" Targeting "The Perversion Of Marriage"

Comparing Prop. 8 judge to Emperor Nero just the latest in Wash. Times' anti-gay assault

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    • Author by tbone (September 12, 2011 8:50 am ET)
      12  
      Because the ACLU and access to a few (of several thousands of) websites now defines how juveniles discover their sexuality.

      The crazy really has permeated this rag.

      p.s., there is no devil
      Report Abuse
    • Author by BDA (September 12, 2011 8:53 am ET)
      8  
      Ya.....Schools should be promoting more hate instead of more acceptance of differences. How much better our schools would be if schoolchildren were encouraged to hate the gays, handicapped, foreigners, the stupid, or the weak?

      sarcasm off...
      Report Abuse
    • Author by galmud (September 12, 2011 8:54 am ET)
      12 1
      If people are not born gay they can't be turned gay. Not even by Jesus Christ
      Report Abuse
      • Author by nerzog (September 12, 2011 9:00 am ET)
        15  
        Bingo. The Troglodytes pretend that becoming Gay is like choosing your major in College.

        I have issued this challenge repeatedly to homophobes: Describe the thinking process by which you chose to be Heterosexual. How old were you? What were the pros and cons? Was it a difficult decision?

        So far, no takers. Well, my brother-in-law claims he remembers "choosing", but he's an idiot.

        Report Abuse
        • Author by danielsangeo (September 12, 2011 9:03 am ET)
          5  
          I, too, have asked this question. Did they make a rational decision? Did they attempt to partake in the other choice(s) to make sure that they made the correct decision?

          Crickets.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 9:07 am ET)
          5  
          I think you can choose to ignore or suppress a natural instinct, but I don't think people choose to be Gay. They may choose to ignore their attractions and to carry on heterosexual relationships, even if it isn't "natural" for them. Just like some people learn to suppress or ignore their instinct toward promiscuity.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by danielsangeo (September 12, 2011 9:16 am ET)
            5  
            I'm also led to believe, having talked with many of these people who believe homosexuality to be a choice, that they are actually bisexual.

            Why do I say that?

            Well, let's look at it. Bisexuals are attracted to members of both sexes, right? If you can choose to deny (falsely) that you are attracted to members of the same sex, you have "chosen" to be "heterosexual".

            I tell these people that I never chose to be heterosexual. For some reason, I never hear back from them.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by galmud (September 12, 2011 9:21 am ET)
              6  
              Well if you have to "choose" to be heterosexual you are probably homosexual or bisexual. And that so called choice is in fact just an act of denial of who you really are
              Report Abuse
          • Author by nerzog (September 12, 2011 9:18 am ET)
            5  
            No doubt, many people fight to suppress their homosexual urges because they feel pressured to do so, or they fear that they'll be ostracized by their peers. That's probably why many gay teens commit suicide.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 9:27 am ET)
              5  
              Yes, and it also explains why so many women leave marriages and take up with a female partner. They ignored or channelled their confusion into heterosexual behavior, but when it didn't work or they discovered they could be happier with a woman, they changed their lifestyle. Ronnie Gilbert of The Weavers" comes to mind. It's often very hard to be "different" in schools. Every kid is miserable and insecure about themselves, but when you look around and know that you really are different, and not in a popular way, life can be hell. I was about 17 when "Seventeen" came out, I related to that song instantly.
              Report Abuse
              • Author by danielsangeo (September 12, 2011 9:31 am ET)
                5  
                And not to mention the man who is hurt by that. Think about it. A man loves this woman dearly and maybe even has a couple kids with her. Then she realizes that she is happier with another woman, that she's a lesbian.

                It's like, to him, the entire marriage was a lie.

                Inversely, the same is true if a man discovers that he's happier with another man and divorces his wife over it.

                I don't want people like Knight teaching our children that something that is natural (homosexuality) is unnatural. It's just lying to them.
                Report Abuse
          • Author by angels4light (September 12, 2011 9:38 am ET)
            6  
            And tragically, when they do, it generally ends up badly for the person they have the hetero relationship with. One (admittedly isolated, and extreme) case is my ex-wife. Her first husband was not hetero, but he tried to be, tried to suppress his nature, ended up taking out his self-hate on my ex-wife and made her life hell for 5 years. Then he left her around Thanksgiving, citing irreconcilable differences (in retrospect, no kidding!). She found out about his orientation later.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by jonimacaroni1 (September 12, 2011 11:52 am ET)
              3  
              Well, this is their fear - that it will allow the person who was bisexual the freedom to feel it's permissible to opt out of a heterosexual marriage.

              I say "hurray" to that though - I wouldn't want to be in a heterosexual marriage with someone who didn't really want to have sex with the opposite sex!
              Report Abuse
              • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 11:59 am ET)
                3  
                The break-up of a marriage or long-term relationship is always painful, no matter what the reason. I agree, I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone who is more attracted to their own gender than to mine. Marriage is supposed to be about building a lasting partnership, sex is about attraction and communication. You can't have an honest partnership if someone is hiding who they are or what they want on a basic level, it isn't fair to either party.
                Report Abuse
        • Author by magnolialover (September 12, 2011 9:42 am ET)
          5  
          Describe the thinking process by which you chose to be Heterosexual. How old were you? What were the pros and cons? Was it a difficult decision?

          Exactly.

          I don't remember "choosing" but I do just remember having a special feeling looking at girls as young as 5 years old or so. Chasing them around the playground. And so on.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by jonimacaroni1 (September 12, 2011 11:49 am ET)
          3  
          Well, some people are somewhat bisexual in nature, and those people most often choose to stick with whatever inklings are the strongest in them. Sexuality isn't binary - it's an upside down bell curve, and so people who aren't at either end do have to choose. But most people are at either end of the spectrum, and no choice every takes place.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by DAWUSS (September 12, 2011 9:10 am ET)
          11
        I have my doubts on that TBH. Attraction (which sexual orientation is a component of) is a choice. You're attracted to someone because you chose to be.


        I know, there are no benefits in choices...
        Report Abuse
        • Author by nerzog (September 12, 2011 9:14 am ET)
          9  
          You're attracted to someone because you chose to be.

          I disagree. You may choose whether or not to act on that attraction, but the initial attraction itself involves a complex chemical reaction deep within your brain.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by angels4light (September 12, 2011 9:40 am ET)
          9  
          Attraction to someone is far more complex than choice. You may choose to act on the attraction or not, but the attraction is not really a choice - it happens.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by the Grey Path (September 13, 2011 3:29 pm ET)
          4  
          Your wife must appreciate your assertion that you're attracted to her because you choose to be, not because she's beautiful.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by kabniel (September 14, 2011 11:24 am ET)
          2  
          Ridiculous. Was it a choice for YOU? I know it wasnt a choice for me. Why would it be a choice for anyone else if it wasnt for me?
          Report Abuse
    • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 9:14 am ET)
      7  
      Interesting that Prince William County Schools would be involved. I worked for them. I didn't really like the district. PWCS was part of the Brown v The Board decision, yet they still had segregated schools into the 1960s or maybe the 1970s. I know that there are two elementary schools opposite each other on Rte 234, one was for Blacks and one was for Whites. The Blacks only school is now being used for Special Ed or something. With a changing demographic, maybe the current leadership is trying to avoid being sued again. I remember being told not to mention "the 'E' word" (evolution) even though we were teaching the topic. They also put a lot of emphasis on "teaching to the test."
      Report Abuse
      • Author by rtwmd1230 (September 12, 2011 10:28 am ET)
        4  
        As contrasted with Prince Edward, another Va. county, which just eliminated public schools for five long years.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 10:45 am ET)
          4  
          Virginia is, well, at least PWCS, is still doing a "moment of silence" and the Pledge, even in high schools, every day. I grew up in Oregon, which did have de facto segregation, but this open segregation and attempts at injecting prayer into the secular school are something incomprehensible to me as a Westerner.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by rtwmd1230 (September 12, 2011 11:09 am ET)
            3  
            Even growing up in relatively "liberal" Charlottesville, we had one year of no public schools, with the churches picking up the slack. The racism in Virginia was more subtle than dogs and firehoses, but no less virulent.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by epkklk851 (September 12, 2011 12:22 pm ET)
              3  
              Wow. I live in a racially integrated neighborhood in Alexandria. Many of my neighbors are from various Spanish-speaking countries and quite a number of people are Africans. And in many of the stores, the clerks are Asians. It's a very integrated, I can't imagine people discriminating against the folks around them. Still, I live in Northern Virginia, I understand in some places, the discrimination is still there and fairly open. I know a dark-skinned Latina who caught all manner of garbage down in Fredericksburg, just 30 miles down the road. It just shocks me. Then of course, there are the people who give me crap for not wanting to travel in the South.
              Report Abuse
    • Author by wookie (September 12, 2011 9:16 am ET)
      13  
      "Hey kids! Turn gay by December 31st and receive a free Motorola phone!"
      Report Abuse
    • Author by magnolialover (September 12, 2011 9:41 am ET)
      11  
      So, acceptance of all and giving them their rights as granted by the Constitution is somehow a bad thing?

      I thought conservatives LOVED the Constitution? Well, except for when it gives rights to the folks that they don't like. Like teh gays.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by danielsangeo (September 12, 2011 9:41 am ET)
      7  
      By the way, what the frack does "sexual promiscuity" have to do with this subject?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by shaggles (September 12, 2011 2:08 pm ET)
        3  
        Everybody knows 'teh gays' are all promicuous. That's why they don't get married. ;)
        Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (September 12, 2011 2:06 pm ET)
      4  
      What is a "homosexual website?"
      Report Abuse
    • Author by the Grey Path (September 13, 2011 3:27 pm ET)
      2  
      just another conservative arguing the Americans are stupid.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by GiveMeABreak (September 14, 2011 10:29 am ET)
      2  
      It is clear to me the founders fully realized ones religious beleifs are too personal and complex to effectively be used to guide the 'group', and thus, religion should instead, privately guide the family and thus, the 'man', who then , along with their particular wisdom, obtained only by walking in their shoes, contributes to the conversation/debate - like everyone else!

      But that's neither here nor there....

      What our founders realized is;
      you can not have the majority exploiting the minority - this is an idea that is the foundation of secular humanism - not the judeo-christian religions. "Love they neighbor unless them muslim terrorists are invading your holy land" in one form or another has been evident for many years.

      This idea of protecting the minority was the 'founding' idea that was so radical. A government NOT guided by some ordained super authority, but 'by the people, for the people' - for ALL the people - business and consumers alike, ALL treated and judged by their deeds and *not* by their words or associations.

      I see this being un-done by the tea-baggers. who keep demanding this country become a christian theocracy - or suggest it ever where.

      Our founders also realized;
      While most religions cant afford the humiliation to disagree, there are many instances in history I can cite to show this ideology of 'protecting the minority' was NOT a principal foundation of the judeo-christian faiths - like I can show it has been for secular humanism.

      I surmised all that - it seems rather obvious to me.

      They were secular humanists guided by their religions, philosophy, experience, desires and needs... they realized; we all are secular humanists at our core and we quibble over what takes priority.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by GiveMeABreak (September 14, 2011 10:33 am ET)
        2  
        Sorry - forgot to delete my edit;
        Strike the; 'Our founders also realized;
        While most religions cant afford the humiliation to disagree..." paragraph.

        I mean - I stand by all of it - I was just - I dunno - re-wording to be less dicky... ??
        Report Abuse

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