Evangelist Proposes to Combat Homosexual Agenda in Public Education

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
May 11, 2005

(AgapePress) - A popular black evangelist is hoping that the new resolution on homosexuality in public schools that he has helped to put before the Southern Baptist Convention will spark a mass exodus of Baptist children from public schools.

Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr.

The resolution, submitted by attorney and author Bruce Shortt and Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., calls on Southern Baptist churches to investigate whether their local school district has a "gay-straight alliance" or other homosexual clubs. The resolution also calls upon churches to encourage parents' removal of their children from schools that have curricula or programs that treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.

Baucham, a Christian evangelist from Texas, insists that more people need to realize that "Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion" but, rather, is about life in its entirety. "We need to think very seriously about what we're doing to our children," he says, and also to "think about the stewardship that we have been given as parents."

The popular author, Bible teacher and apologist has been called "an evangelist to intellectuals." However, he contends, far too many Christians simply are not thinking when it comes to the education their children are getting "when they spend 40 to 50 hours a week being inundated by secular humanism -- and, now, being inundated with this information from a radical homosexual agenda."

Repeatedly Baucham urges believing parents, "Think about what we're doing to our children." But unfortunately, the evangelist observes, many Christians have been bullied into silence on the aggressive homosexual agenda in public schools. The resolution is a political "hot potato" in the denomination, he says, because more than 80 percent of Southern Baptists are sending their children to public schools.

Also, the Texas minister notes, many leaders in the SBC are afraid to speak out on the issue of the corruption in public schools for fear of alienating members. Then, too, there is the poverty argument.

"One of the complaints that is sort of levied against us because of this resolution is that we are somehow insensitive to poor families who cannot afford to send their children to private schools," Baucham says. That is the very reason why, he explains, "one of the things that we call for in the resolution is for our churches to provide affordable alternatives to government education. It is not hard to do."

Uncovering Public Education's Campaign to Mainstream Homosexuality
Several experts consulted about the Baucham-Shortt resolution affirm there is a widespread trend in public education towards legitimizing the homosexual lifestyle and presenting it as normal and positive through various education programs and curricula. Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth and executive director of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), has observed the trend and agrees with many that it poses a serious danger to children.

Peter LaBarbera

"I have monitored the homosexual movement for 15 years, with special focus on its campaign to penetrate schools," LaBarbera states. "Radical gender and homosexual advocacy groups influence teacher-training programs dealing with 'sexual orientation' and 'diversity,' creating school environments that are heavily biased against Christian moral teachings."

The IFI spokesman says groups like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) and PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) work with pro-homosexual student groups to promote the false notion of inherent homosexual, bisexual, or transgender identity, resulting in sexually confused students "coming out" at young and younger ages. Even grade-school students are targeted, he adds, with manipulative programs and lesson plans about bullying and homosexual parenting.

LaBarbera says Christian families are often completely unaware of what is already happening in their community's schools. "Most parents, especially those living near big cities, simply have no clue as to the many ways that the 'sexual orientation' agenda works its way into their children's education," he says.

And psychology professor Dr. Warren Throckmorton, an expert in the area of sexual orientation, notes that government schools often devote instructional time to political activism, much of it aimed at undermining traditional beliefs concerning sexuality. "Most parents have no idea that this is going on," he says, "or that public school officials collaborate with political activists to attempt to alter the beliefs of school children."

Voddie Baucham hopes the resolution he is urging on the Southern Baptist Convention will help to raise awareness among Christian parents and others about what he considers a crisis in public education. The proposal encourages every SBC church to investigate whether the school district in which it is located has either a homosexual club or program that attempts to influence children to accept homosexual behavior as a legitimate lifestyle. And where that is found to be the case, the resolution urges the church to inform parents and encourage them to remove their children from the district's schools immediately.

Notably, the Baucham-Shortt resolution does not discourage adult Christians from serving in public schools and actually commends those so employed. Meanwhile, it asks Baptists to make a greater effort to provide and support Christian educational alternatives to government schools, especially for low-income and single-parent families.