Golden Rule Pledge update

I know of 19 schools who are pledging the Golden Rule Pledge on or around the Day of Silence. One Campus Crusade group at Slippery Rock University met with a gay support group on campus recently to offer assistance with the Day of Silence observance. Many CRU students will remain silent and distribute cards with the Day of Silence message on one side and the Golden Rule Pledge on the other. I hope to have a link to a more complete list of schools soon.

Should Larry King’s killer be tried as an adult?

At issue in the trial of Brandon McInerney for the murder of Larry King is whether McInerney should be tried as an adult. Many people, including gay rights groups believe he should be tried as a juvenile. This in no way minimizes his crime. However, it does recognize that the McInerney is a child and may be able to alter his life with help.

Sadly, the defense attorney in this case seems to lay some of the responsibility on King’s behavior and alleges the school should have intervened. That defense cannot be taken seriously.

This case is very sad. GLSEN has made the Day of Silence this year in tribute to King’s memory.

American Psychiatric Association symposium on religion, therapy and homosexuality

I am looking forward to the May 5th symposium in Washington DC, hosted by the APA at their annual conference involving Bishop Gene Robinson, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President, Al Mohler, Past-President of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, David Scasta, Harvard psychiatrist John Peteet and me. Here is a rebuttal to a critical article from Wayne Besen about the symposium and brief coverage of the event by Citizenlink.

Obama, Clinton spar over bitterness in PA

In last night’s Clinton-Obama debate in Philadelphia, moderator Charlie Gibson asked Obama to clarify his remarks regarding Pennsylvanians bitterness with government and their gravitation toward guns and God. The entire transcript is here. I am reproducing the crux of the answers from Obama and Clinton. I don’t think he appreciably changed the basic meaning of his earlier comments.

Obama said:

And so the point I was making was that when people feel like Washington’s not listening to them, when they’re promised year after year, decade after decade, that their economic situation is going to change, and it doesn’t, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion.

They end up feeling “This is a place where I can find some refuge. This is something that I can count on.” They end up being much more concerned about votes around things like guns, where traditions have been passed on from generation to generation. And those are incredibly important to them.

And yes, what is also true is that wedge issues, hot-button issues, end up taking prominence in our –in our politics. And part of the problem is that when those issues are exploited, we never get to solve the issues that people really have to get some relief on, whether it’s health care or education or jobs.

Is he really saying that people become single issue or ideological voters because they feel government is insensitive to their economic plight? He clearly believes there is some causal relationship – he uses the phrase, “end up” four times in this short narrative to cast interest in religion, guns, social issues as the result of frustration with government. I think this seriously misunderstands those on the other end of the spectrum from him on social issues.

I think Clinton made a pretty accurate statement in response:

I don’t believe that my grandfather or my father, or the many people whom I have had the privilege of knowing and meeting across Pennsylvania over many years, cling to religion when Washington is not listening to them. I think that is a fundamental, sort of, misunderstanding of the role of religion and faith in times that are good and times that are bad.

And I similarly don’t think that people cling to their traditions, like hunting and guns, either when they are frustrated with the government. I just don’t believe that’s how people live their lives.

At any rate, perhaps the most troubling thing I heard in the debate was the promise of both Democratic candidates to bring the troops home from Iraq, no matter what military leaders advised. Even if they advise the country will destabilize and our interests will be harmed, they said they would bring the troops home. They also promised no new taxes on people making 250k or less. Shades of George Bush I…