With the recent accounts of anti-gay bullying in the news, there has been a backlash against people and organizations that promote traditional values.
Call it a relentless pursuit to find someone to blame. As politicians like Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. [1], and organizations like Focus on the Family [2] express their concerns over the promotion of homosexuality in the public square, they are regularly blamed for aggressive ignorant anti-gay bullying that results in horrible things, like the suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student [3].
On CNN's Oct. 27 “Anderson Cooper 360,” Rosalind Wiseman, author of “Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World,” [4] did just that. She specifically “called out” Focus on the Family and suggested they were somehow connected to anti-gay comments Clint McCance [5], an elected member of the Midland, Ark. School Board, made on his Facebook page.
[T]he other thing I want to do is, I want to really have a callout to the people who have been talking about the, you know, bullying agendas and all of this,” Wiseman said. “If we're going to have a problem with openly gay teachers, for example, I think we have to have a really big problem with mean, mean school officials, and that people like Focus on the Family or other organizations who are really focused on getting gay people out of the schools, that we have got to say, but you know what, it's not tolerable to have mean people in the schools. It's not tolerable to have mean teachers, because that's, frankly, worse.”
While Focus on the Family is clear where they stand on homosexuality [6], they're also equally if not more so, clear where they stand on keeping emotions in check and how anger can inflict damage on others [7]. However, something that could have been discovered with a simple website search was lost in Wiseman's attack against institutions that promote traditional values so that she could score points in the name of so-called tolerance.
“What would you rather have?” Wiseman asked. “Would you rather have a mean, irresponsible person who is advocating for the suicide of kids, or do you want people who are just trying to be and live in dignity?”
Earlier this year, former University of Florida and current Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow appeared in a TV commercial during the Super Bowl on behalf of Focus on the Family to promote the value of life. However, he was the object of much ridicule and scorn [8] by many in media that often call for tolerance of lifestyle, but turn a blind eye when it comes to tolerance of values.